Robin Antonick, who developed the first Madden title for MS-DOS, Commoder and Apple II in 1988, is suing Electronic Arts for a substantial amount of unpaid royalties. Antonick is claiming the contract he signed with EA in 1986 was not terminated and remains in force and that the contract requires EA to pay Antonick royalties not only on version of the game on which he worked, but also on any derived from his work
“Only recently, as a result of publicity surrounding the 20th Anniversary of the Madden video game, 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 was derived from software developed by Antonick. Unknown to Antonick, Electronic Arts decided that it did not want to share these profits with him even though he was responsible for the development of virtually all the ground-breaking technology at the heart of the game even though Electronic Arts had committed to a long term relationship in which it would pay him royalties over the entire life of the franchise,” the lawsuit says.
Antonick is seeking tens of millions in unpaid royalties. EA Spokesperson Tiffany Steckler responded: “The complaint and its 20 year-old claim are utterly without merit.”
Thanks to IGN for the info.