10 Times EA Screwed The Pooch

So, as you might imagine, this one is a bit of a doozy, since it involves a several lawsuits, including one that had a settlement payment of several million dollars.

Surprisingly, one of EA's most costly errors is also one that you'd expect they'd have at least checked about, as it involves law regarding the licensing of athlete's likenesses. In the 50s, this issue first arose as a result of the popularity of baseball cards with famous players on them, resulting in a court case where it was found that the person themselves (of course) had the legal right to their likeness first and foremost.

Yet, EA signed a contract with the NFL and several other leagues that they thought allowed them exclusive access to the licensing of American football stars... without seemingly ever consulting said football stars. As you might imagine, the minute people realised this was actually kind of illegal, EA felt the brunt of the law fast.

And often, as this would happen several times, with Electronic Arts paying out a forty million dollar settlement in 2015, and then six hundred dollars the year later.