Good news, Madden fans. The objection to a $27 million class action settlement in the case brought against the exclusive license held by the series has been dropped. Your money should be on the way soon.
Rewind: Last year, Electronic Arts settled the now-five-year-old lawsuit brought by Geoffrey Pecover, alleging that EA Sports much-loathed exclusive deal to make NFL video games was a violation of U.S. antitrust law. The settlement set aside a $27 million pool for, uh, "victims," and, of course, to compensate the attorneys. The settlement doesn't affect the exclusive deal with the NFL nor EA's ability to hold one in the future. It also doesn't mean NFL 2K5 is coming back, sorry.
This was all set to go this summer until some guy in Denver appealed the settlement ruling.With that appeal voluntarily dismissed last month, Your check should be in the mail soon, provided you filed a claim prior to the May 15 deadline. Those who bought a copy of Madden, NCAA Football or Arena Football for the original Xbox, PlayStation 2, PC (remember when these games were made for PC?) or GameCube will get $20.37 per game, maximum of eight games. Those who bought either of those titles on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or Wii (God help you) will get $5.85 per game, capped at eight, too.
To contact the author of this post, write to owen@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter @owengood.
Image by Getty.