Strategy Informer  

The Hollywood Reporter is, well, reporting that Madden co-creator Robin Antonick is suing Electronic Arts for unpaid royalties in the long-running American football series.

The complain filed by Antonick reads: “Only recently, as a result of publicity surrounding the 20th Anniversary of the Madden videogame did Antonick become aware that Electronic Arts did not independently develop subsequent versions of its Madden NFL software. Instead, according to recent statements by Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, the current generation of software apparently derived from software developed by Antonick.”

In other words, Electronic Arts derived its software from the original game without paying Antonick, who had believed that the Madden series had used a new game engine.

Considering 85M copies of Madden have been sold since the original John Madden Football, EA is quick to dismiss this claim: “The complaint and its 20 year-old claim are utterly without merit. We never offered to pay Antonick a penny.”

As the old saying goes – that’s for the courts to decide.