Can EA Be Stopped?

And you thought it was over. After signing improbable contracts of exclusivity with the NFL and the AFL, Electronic Arts has announced a 15-year exclusive deal with ESPN, snatching that license outright from EA's biggest sports rival, Sega. Technically, this is no monopoly, but in all practicality, EA's recent moves have completely squashed any possible competition for football video games. I'm not quite outraged, but I do see this as a sign that any need for creativity has been clearly eliminated. Why bother pushing yourself to make a better football simulation when you're the only game in town? The masses will take whatever you give them.

At the very least, Take-Two, publisher of Sega's ESPN sports games, have not resigned themselves to oblivion. Instead of sitting by idly while their rival grabs everything in sight, they're now in discussions with the MLB for a similar contract of exclusivity for baseball, in order to counter EA's dealings on the football side. Certainly, none of this exclusivity-hoarding is the sort of competition that I would hope for in the game industry, but there's not much that can be prevented now that game companies are becoming huge multibillion dollar businesses capable of such actions...