Just in time for the next-gen release of Madden NFL 25, lo and behold, here's my check from the settlement of the ridiculous Madden 'monopoly' lawsuit—for $64.14, which is four cents less than what the game would cost, with tax, at any of the GameStops I frequent.
That means, if you filed your claim by May 15, you should be getting your moolah any moment now. Others' claim sizes will vary—you got $20.37 for each edition of Madden or NCAA Football (or Arena Football, but who the hell bought that thing?) you bought on the PS2, Xbox or GameCube after 2005, and $5.85 per copy if you bought them on the 360, PS3 or, madre de dios, the Wii. No, I did not have to supply any receipts to get this money. I simply recalled which copies I bought, checked some boxes and apparently, EA Sports' telemetry verified I wasn't b.s.ing.
The settlement terms were reached more than a year ago but distribution this year was held up when a so-called "professional objector" filed an appeal that was overturned in early September. I'm sure Electronic Arts is super glad this dough arrives in time for the victims to run right out and buy Madden on the Xbox One or PS4.
In July 2012, the company agreed to pay $27 million to settle a lawsuit alleging their hated exclusive deal to make NFL video games was an illegal monopoly. Under the terms, EA Sports, agreed not to renew its licenses for the NCAA Football series on exclusive terms, an issue later made extremely moot. The exclusive license with the NFL was not affected, though it does expire this year. Man, the settlement check I got from NFL 2K5 was hella better than this thing
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