BERKELEY, Calif. – The following statement is being issued by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP and The Paynter Law Firm, PLLC pursuant to an order of the United States District Court, Northern District of California, Oakland Division:

If You Purchased Certain Electronic Arts Brand Football Video Games Between January 1, 2005 and the Present, You May Be a Class Member.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Oakland Division has certified a class in a lawsuit alleging violations of California's antitrust and consumer protection laws in connection with the sale of certain football video games (Case No. 08-cv-02820 CW).

Plaintiffs in the case are purchasers of Electronic Arts' football video games, and they claim that Defendant Electronic Arts entered into a series of exclusive licenses with the National Football League (NFL), National Football League Players' Association (NFLPA), National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), and Arena Football League (AFL), which plaintiffs claim foreclosed competition in an alleged football video game market.  Plaintiffs allege that this series of exclusive licenses caused customers who purchased certain football video games to be overcharged.  Defendant Electronic Arts has denied any liability and all allegations of misconduct.

The certified class includes all persons who, during the period January 1, 2005 to the present, purchased the Madden NFL, NCAA Football, or Arena Football League brand video games published by Electronic Arts with a release date of January 1, 2005 to the present.  Purchasers of software for mobile devices, persons purchasing directly from Electronic Arts, persons purchasing used copies of the relevant football video games, and Electronic Arts' employees, officers, directors, legal representatives, and wholly or partly owned subsidiaries or affiliated companies are excluded from the class.

The Court has ordered that notice of the class certification be published and provided to potential class members, but the Court has not decided whether the Defendants did anything wrong, and the required notice is not an expression of any opinion by the Court about the merits of any of the claims or defenses asserted by any party to the litigation.

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