Since 2005, anyone wanting to make a video game version of American football has had to do so without the real stadiums, teams, and players that make EA's Madden NFL and NCAA Football series so authentic. But EA would lose at least half of its iron grip on the American football video game market under a proposed settlement plan in a class-action lawsuit first filed over four years ago.

Under the terms of the settlement, which still has to be approved by the court after being submitted last week, EA would not renew its current exclusive agreement with the NCAA when it expires in 2014, and for at least five years after that. That would open the door for truly accurate, competitive college football titles for the first time since Sega's NCAA College Football 2K3 (EA would also agree to give up its exclusive license to make Arena Football League video games in 2014, but really, how many people are going to be scrambling to make arena football video games?).

The proposed settlement is also interesting for putting a precise value on how much EA's anti-competitive practices have cost gamers over the years. Consumers who bought an EA-produced football game from 2005 on would be eligible to receive $6.79 per GameCube, PS2, or Xbox title and $1.95 per Wii, Xbox 360, or PS3 title.

But that might actually be underselling how much EA's iron grip on the football game market has affected competitive pricing. Back in 2004, Sega's well-regarded NFL 2K5 made waves by launching at $19.99, undercutting Madden 2005's more traditional $49.99 price point. EA lowered the price of its game to $29.95 before signing the exclusive NFL license later that year, and returning to the standard $49.99 price point for Madden 2006 the next year.

EA would be able to maintain the exclusive NFL license in the proposed settlement, meaning the Madden series would be set to remain one of the bestselling games of every year and a major cash cow for EA. But lawyers for the class-action seem satisfied with the outcome nonetheless.

"After more than four years of hard-fought litigation, we have reached a settlement that we strongly believe is fair to consumers," Hagens Berman attorney and managing partner Steve Berman said in a statement. "We look forward to moving this process forward and asking the court to approve this settlement, which we think is in the best interests of the class."

This case is separate from another class-action lawsuit filed by former NCAA student athletes over compensation for the use of their names and likenesses in EA's games. Retired NFL players previously won $28 million in a lawsuit alleging collusion between EA and the NFL Players Association.