I read the news about the exclusive licensing agreement between EA and the NFL earlier this week, but somehow, I completely glossed over the “exclusive” part.
In case you don’t follow the world of sports videogames, the Madden NFL series has been the market leader for many, many years. To a large segment of the population, “Madden” is synonymous with “football videogame,” in much the same way that “Kleenex” and “Xerox” are synonymous with their respective markets (which are, of course, automotive parts and food service). This last year, Sega made a brilliant move and lowered the price of their competing ESPN NFL 2K5 game to $19.99, as opposed to the $49.99 charged for Madden. Obviously, they hoped that more people would be drawn to their cheaper offering, which also released several weeks before Madden. Based on discussions I have had, it seems like it worked: Many people tried 2K5 who wouldn’t have otherwise, and some even doubted if they would pick up Madden, since the 2K series is actually very good.
So now that we’re all up to speed, in rolls EA and buys the exclusive rights to the NFL teams, players, and stadiums. The ESPN NFL series is great, but I don’t think people will be buying ESPN Football Sim 2K6 with the Mudville Tigers playing against the North Upperton Leopards in the Tahomadome. Effectively, this eliminates any competition between EA in the football-game market, and they don’t have to worry about lowering the price of their game in the future. I think they will still be forced to innovate, since many won’t care if they’re playing the 2004 or 2005 version (or at least, I wouldn’t), but this is obviously bad for competition overall.
Combine this with the EA spouse story, and I am becoming more and more convinced that EA is truly evil. They do make great games, though.
