Madden NFL suit going to trial

Original Madden NFL designer Robin Antonick's lawsuit against Electronic Arts is going to trial after a California federal judge denied EA's final attempt to dismiss the case, according to a release from his legal team. Antonick originally sued EA in April 2011.

Court proceedings are scheduled to begin on June 17, 2013.

Antonick is accusing EA of withholding royalties and demanding a share of the profits the series has generated over the years. More than 99 million Madden NFL games have been sold to date, generating billions in revenue.

According to the complaint, Antonick conceived and developed the first version of Madden and was described as "miraculous" by EA. In all, he is seeking tens of millions in restitution.

"We have very compelling evidence indicating that EA used Mr. Antonick's ground-breaking code and design elements as the basis for both past and present Madden NFL titles," said Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP partner Robert Carey in a statement. "Yet, EA has failed to compensate him as required by his agreement or give him proper credit for his work. We look forward to proving our case at trial, and we are very confident that we will prevail."

An EA representative declined to comment.

The next entry in the series is Madden NFL 25, a special version of the game launching in August to mark the franchise's 25th anniversary.