EA settles NFL lawsuit, retains licence though loses NCAA

The Madden NFL series has survived a fierce legal dispute between EA and the NFL.

A $27m settlement fee has been paid, according to Kotaku, ending a four-year class action lawsuit that argued the deal was an illegal monopoly.

The most crucial news for gamers is that EA has managed to hold on to the NFL licence, though it has had to agree to forfeit its NCAA licence once that expires in 2014. The publisher will, however, be free to re-negotiate a further NCAA deal at that stage as long as it is not an exclusive agreement.

EA has also been told it cannot seek any exclusivity agreements with the AFL, either.

Interestingly, consumers are also entitled to claim a partial refund on previous Madden purchases. US gamers will be eligible to claim $1.95 for each madden title purchased between 2005 and the present day and $.679 for any Madden games bought for Ps2, GameCube or Xbox.