EA must pay original Madden developer $11M

The original designer of the longrunning Madden series, Robin Antonick, has been awarded more than $11M USD in damages from Electronic Arts by a California jury after a three day deliberation. The developer had sued EA for failing to pay him royalties for what has become a massive cash cow for the publisher.

The win stems from Antonick’s claim that he’d signed publishing and development contracts with EA in 1986 stating EA would pay him royalties from any ”derivative works” from the original Madden. The jury decided that the games from 1990 to 1996 were similar enough to the original for EA to have to pay back royalties.

The second part will determine whether Antonick will get royalties for the games released after 1997, when Madden truly exploded as a franchise.

Naturally, EA was displeased with the ruling, with a spokesperson stating, ”While we’re disappointed with the jury’s verdict and will appeal, this has always been a case about games from the early 1990s, and it has no impact on today’s Madden NFL franchise.”

Stay tuned.