EA Sports is bringing back college football games, but without real players

[Shawn Knight]

Editor's take: EA's efforts to jump back into the world of college football video games is admirable and promising, but let's be frank. Players are what make the game, and if you don't have the rights to use their likeness, it'll be hard for fans to get excited about it. Even if you do have the right to license school logos and stadiums, the experience won’t be the same if you can’t don the jersey of your favorite player. There's still time for the rules regarding players to change, but as it stands today, actual players won't be in the game.

Electronic Arts launched what would be the final installment in the long-running NCAA Football video game series back in mid-2013. Shortly after, the NCAA decided not to renew its licensing agreement with EA Sports. That effectively put an end to college football video games and prompted EA to shift its focus to the Madden franchise of NFL games.

On Tuesday, however, EA sparked hope among college football game fans that a return could be imminent.

For those who never stopped believing...#EASPORTSCollegeFootball pic.twitter.com/2vDUYnbXEJ

— EA SPORTS (@EASPORTS) February 2, 2021

EA has partnered with the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) on “the expected return of college football to EA Sports.” Per EA, the deal will allow EA Sports to become the exclusive developer of simulation college football video game experiences.

EA said the new franchise will include the rights to more than 100 colleges and feature the logos, stadiums and gameplay traditions that fans have come to know and love. Notably, the game “will not include student-athlete names, images and likenesses” but EA said it will continue to watch developments around that subject closely.

It's also worth highlighting that EA made no mention of the NCAA in its announcement. Given the language used, we're likely looking at a new franchise that won't use NCAA branding.

That said, the new game is in the beginning stages of development and thus, won’t be ready for another couple of years.

Masthead courtesy Victor Moussa

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/88496-ea-sports-bringing-back-college-football-games-but.html

 

[axiomatic13]

Nope. It's the connection of real players to their stats that immerses you in the game world.

 

[letsgoiowa]

Nope. It's the connection of real players to their stats that immerses you in the game world.

To you, but it was always about the game to me. They could be completely nameless and I still wouldn't care--I didn't back in the '05 release and I don't now. The mechanics are what's fun.

 

[Squid Surprise]

It's just going to use the Madden Game engine with a few "tweaks" to make it college.... not that that's a bad thing, as I really like Madden

And I suspect there will be the ability to mod the names of players... which means there will be unofficial mods within days (or even hours) that let you have everyone's name and number...

I remember Baseball Mogul having to mess with the names of players because it didn't have the MLB license... Podro Mertinez was my starting pitcher... but not Pedro Martinez!

 

[Adhmuz]

I don't know the names of any of the players anyway so to me it makes no difference.

But to be honest, 1 Football game = all Football games, so not like I'm the best critic either.

I doubt I can name 10 people in the NFL... So College Football, good luck with that.

 

[8600M GT]

Real players is definitely important for the immersion, if not everything. Which means the answer is "it depends on the modding scene."

That said, I'd be more interested in a college football game than pro. That's mainly a factor of where I live, but growing up almost no one cared about pro football, but an awful lot of people cared about the local college football team - a trend that remains more or less current today.

 

[OortCloud]

After the awful money grubbing Madden 21 I wouldnt buy any NFL game from EA.

 

[mctommy]

Not for me. Even if I only know 5 players in college fb, I don't care about playing John Doe 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 vs. Jane Doe 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.