I’m sure there will be much rejoicing concerning this news.
EA Sports is coming back to college football.
After last making a college football video game in 2013, the possibility of the game returning had been in limbo. Now, it isn’t. EA Sports vice president and general manager, Daryl Holt, told ESPN the game maker will be returning to the space with “EA Sports College Football.”
“As we look for the momentum that we’re building on in sports, it all starts with the passion of our fans and the opportunities of what they are interested in,” Holt said. “I don’t think a visit where I go outside wearing a piece of EA Sports branded apparel, that someone doesn’t go, ‘Hey, when is college football coming back?'”
It will — at some point. Holt said there is not a date on when the game will return or even a date where the return will be announced other than it won’t be coming back for this year.
To make the game happen, EA Sports partnered with collegiate licensing company CLC to make sure they had the FBS schools, traditions, uniforms and playbooks — among other things — ready to go for the game. Over 100 teams will be in the game.
For now, EA Sports is planning to move forward without rosters that include the names, images or likenesses of real college players. Current NCAA rules prohibit athletes from selling their NIL rights while in college.
“For now”, eh? The thing is, that was how the game was set up before and that didn’t stop EA Sports from being sued. So what might be changing? You probably can guess what the company is expecting.
However, those rules are likely to be changed at some point in the coming year — either by the NCAA, state legislatures or Congress. It’s not yet clear if the evolving rules will allow for the kind of group licensing arrangements that would be needed for EA Sports to negotiate with athletes to use their names in the game.
The company claims it’s going forward no matter what. We’ll see.
By the way, “Holt said the plan for the reboot will be to not have the NCAA name, but to use ‘EA Sports College Football.'”.
Get The Picture 
Kind of relieved they aren’t trying to rush it out this fall — given the Madden glitches, and the bad track record of rushed EA games (looking at you Anthem and Mass Effect Andromeda), a bit more dev time is a good thing here.
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I’m not crying, YOU’RE CRYING!!!
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When it finally comes out, I’m sending the family to grandma’s for the weekend.
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Previous versions didn’t have names, but did have numbers and likenesses if I remember correctly.
You couldn’t play as Pollack, but you could be a white defensive lineman at UGA in that time period with the number 47.
So, in theory that would allow EA to sidestep the issue, correct? Also, I bet there would quickly be a Reddit community that would publish a download to update rosters outside of EA’s control, again allowing EA to sidestep the issue.
Am I misremembering this?
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If I remember, they sidestepped the issue right up until they couldn’t. Basically that number 47 had stats that equaled his pass rushing skills and whiteness, so everyone knew who they meant.
And yes you were free to rename the players too. My guess is that they would of had to recreate the game with players/numbers that do not correlate to their real person counterparts and they didn’t want to do that, and hence, that is why we are all hanging on to our xbox 360 with Aaron Murray still at the helm of UGA….
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They would have like 10 players in the game with the wrong skin color, or mix up the jersey numbers of a couple of the lesser known players on some teams. A little attempt at some “plausible” deniability.
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Lucky you, I’m still playing on my Nintendo Game Cube with David Greene at QB.
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And white lineman #47 was a bad ass all American in the game, and the worst player on Marshall’s roster was also pretty damn accurate in the game. That was enough likeness for them to quit making the game for risk of suits.
tl;dr: Can’t market it as well without accurate roster stats, and so it’ll probably be a shitty Madden port if they can’t do that.
A lot of die hard players would be happy downloading an accurate roster to update a randomly rostered game. But most players aren’t going to want to shell out $70 for a game that doesn’t even have your school’s real “team” for you to play.
But even for the die hards, (or presuming every average prospective customer would willingly buy a game at the same clip with the expectation to go download the roster from whatever account after purchase) it’s a tall task if it’s names AND statistics that have to be fixed. Before all you had to do was get the names right, and voila; 2008 Florida has a big ole stud running quarterback named Tebow who has the ultimate hybrid player in the game named Harvin to throw/hand off to, and an amazing yet murderous TE named Hernandez to pitch a shovel pass to.
If those player STATS aren’t accurate when you buy the game… now not only do they have to plug in all the names correctly (10,000 or so names), but like 50 different statistical parameters for each of 85 players per roster for like, what, 126 teams? That’s my estimate on all three numbers except the roster size, but lets call it accurate; that would be 535,500 parameters that would need to be plugged in on top of accurate names and jersey numbers. That’s a tall task to complete just off the cuff, much less to get it even remotely accurate which requires tons of research and knowledge (remember it used to be so accurate that WR’s and DB’s who played QB in high school would have just good enough QB stats to where you could use them at QB in the game). That’s all before you even address the issue of everyone, on a wink and a nod, picking a single updated roster for EVERYONE ONLINE to download as a standard (can’t play online without the same roster stats)…… without that standard being one clearly created by a shadowy EA sports employee/department, which would get them sued just as bad if not worse than if they’d just put the stats in there accurately to begin with.
All that to say, it’s a tough sell to market it without rosters that are as accurate as Madden rosters are, and one hell of a clunky gaming experience, especially if you’re not a die hard. Which means if that’s the case they’re not going to invest in making it much more than a port of Madden with different jerseys and playbooks; if they can’t count on big sales, they don’t invest big.
I’d still buy it and I hope they make it regardless as soon as possible.
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Keep in mind EA has always been willing to pay the players, because it makes for a more accurate game. Problem isn’t on their end.
Also, keep in mind that they know exactly what got them in trouble the first time around.
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That’s what has me skeptical about this happening sooner than later. The NCAA is NOT going to grant a license to EA if EA’s going to do a separate deal with their players in the current climate. What I read in between the lines, though, is that they’re so confident that NIL rights will change soon that they’re willing to invest in the early stages of development today. Even to the point of risking releasing a watered down edition or two of the game while they wait.
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Soon, it may not be the NCAA’s shot to call.
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Best part of this for EA, is they likely can simply pay the players with a copy of the game for their preferred gaming console.
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I’m not sure you’re familiar with just how much money these marquee games make these days. For reference, the players’ share of the new Madden deal is roughly $100M per year. Let’s say there are roughly 10,000 CFB players and the deal is worth the same; that’d be $10,000 per year per player. The deal isn’t going to be worth that, but even if it’s worth 1/2 or 1/4…. that’s $5,000 or $2,500 per player per year.
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I am aware.
I am also aware that CFB players want to play as themselves in a video game, especially since the vast majority of them will never get to the NFL.
A further point: This idea is not mine, it comes from former CFB walk-on Andy Staples, who believes this is all it would take.
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Which is in line with (and in many cases, less) than the existing stipend money many D1 players are getting already. Even added to that it wouldn’t make a big tax hit for anyone, so let’s get it done.
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Exactly. EA has two things over the NCAA: an unbiased evaluation of the litigation, and far smarter people looking at it from an odds/business perspective. If they’re confident, NIL’s probably coming REAL soon.
Still, I worry. It’s been so long in the desert. I see the promised land and fear it’s a mirage.
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I doubt Murphy can get his bill enacted before Florida’s law becomes effective in July.
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They also had some tebow formations on the game in the florida playbook.
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Weirdest headline you’ve ever put up here, Senator.
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Not really.
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Yep, craps is an awesome game.
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The Senator’s headline writing ability is unsurpassed. Creative genius. Easily the most overlooked part of this blog.
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Aw, shucks. 🙂
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I don’t know what to do with my hands. I can finally get rid of my 360 I’ve been hanging on to so I could play NCAA13.
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*14
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Depends on how much you’ve bet on the come, I guess. Are you allowed to use your hands?
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Just damn.
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It was a sad day when the PS3 died and I couldn’t play NCAA13 anymore. It was even worse when the Xbox360 died and I couldn’t even play the one previous version I had bought for that system.
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My college-age daughter sent me a text of the screenshot from Twitter. I’ll admit I can’t wait. I don’t care if the jersey numbers, position, and underlying data don’t resemble current players. I played the game for the front of the jersey not the back. 😉
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I’m sure the folks at the OperationSports forums will have a roster fix for those that like using names.
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Been a long time, but I did as well. I did it as much for the recruiting and the campaign mode as anything. I never really cared about the players individually. Hopefully there will be a “real life” mode where you can be Tennessee and hand out sacks of cash to recruits and then try to wade through the sanctions and other roadblocks to success.
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They need a post-win celebration for the coaches. Tennessee’s coach would head to Krispy Kreme with the Hot Doughnuts sign on. Auburn and Fech’s coach would definitely go to Waffle House. LSU’s coach would go to Raising Cane’s. Where would Kirby go? I’ll start with Chipotle because of the story he told about meeting the Ant Man with his son and he didn’t recognize Edwards.
Feel free to add others here. Get creative, peeps.
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LOL
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Same here after a few seasons in Dynasty mode the players are generated anyway.
I can’t wait!!! I logged more hours playing NCAA Football than all other games combined, if you take away COD.
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The front of the jersey !? The hell you say
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They didn’t put the player names in there before, but the numbers and stats correlated 100% with the actual players on the roster, and they had the announcers record the actual names of every player, so when you put in the correct names from a downloaded roster, they would announce it correctly.
Just don’t do that, and you won’t get sued. We don’t need to hear Kirk Herbstreit announce the players names for it to truly be a CFB game. That’s…. not what we’re buying the game for. And trust me, some reliable, anonymous username will magically come up with rosters whose names and stats correlate perfectly with the actual rosters. Just make sure that person isn’t clearly affiliated with EA and you’re good to go.
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As I type that out, it’s a little bit of a tough sell to market a game that doesn’t at least have statistically close rosters out of the box. Don’t need the announcers to nail the names, but you do need those statistics.
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I’m wondering if they could do it so that the overall rosters still have the A+ through F rankings they used to display in the team select menu, but then randomize it enough so that the individual players aren’t just nameless clones of their real-life counterparts.
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They COULD, but it’s a tougher sell to the casual fan. For me, my Dynasty and all the teams in it are going to be totally separated from reality by year two or three no matter how the rosters start out, and I’d be happy as a pig in shit to wait in line all night to buy it (I’ll actually just download it). But most people just want to play hypothetical games before and during the upcoming season. THAT is the big selling point of the game, and I would miss it very badly. Absolutely loved playing games of the week before Saturday, even non-Georgia games; made watching on Saturday so much more fun.
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I could make the case that the jersey numbers are school property and the ratings are driven by the EA algorithm using real stats (once again, university property) as the driver. The problem was when EA took the next step and made #3 at UGA a running back who fit Todd Gurley’s description all the way down to his hometown and measurables.
By the time I had Fred Gibson (sorry, WR #82) as a senior, he was unstoppable on the outside.
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It’s an argument, it’s just not a remotely convincing one. Which is why there hasn’t been an NCAA football game in several years.
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I don’t game much anymore but I’ve got about 15 seasons into a dynasty on 14 and will get the next one. Looking forward to whipping my son in it. Lol!
Hopefully, EA and the NCAA will figure out a way to compensate the SA, though, they should have by now.
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The NCAA will do nothing until forced.
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It’s not a matter of figuring out a way. It’s a matter of being willing to do it in the first place. If there’s one thing we know how to do in these great United States, it’s assign monetary value to things and then make such a transfer of value; if there’s money involved, nothing is too complex. Unless doing something complex might make you less money, then HOLY SHIT that’s some overly complex stuff you’re talking about! Better not do that!
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I came here to comment about the likeness aspect but it seems that others have beaten me to it.
If they’re doing this with college football, can college basketball be far behind?
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While I enjoy college basketball more than the NBA (or at least I used to), that would be so difficult. You come out with EA Sports College Basketball 22 and the best players on the best teams were one-and-done’ers and they’re already gone.
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That is the trouble. It was pretty rare that even the “stud 5* greatest recruit ever” kids were more than like an 88 overall in NCAA Football. Which is because you really don’t know at all, and those kids rarely turn out to be anything remarkable as freshmen. It would be such a crap shoot to do basketball where ALL of the actual best players, every year single year, are freshmen.
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I played this game so much Freshman year, I might actually be enticed to buy a new console when the next iteration comes out. Dynasty mode with North Texas
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I started a dynasty with Georgia and then took over Wyoming, for the challenge, and turned them into a powerhouse after a two or three seasons. I was adding top 5 matchups for the OOC schedule.
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13’ is really the only video game i played for more than a cup of coffee since the sega genesis. And by that i mean a few weeks. I had Aaron Murray running the pistol and throwing quick hits even Bobo couldn’t dream up.
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Holy shit. Y’all take this serious…
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I spent my entire 20’s and some of my 30’s loving this game series. Many of us did, Grandpa Simpson. 😉
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No worries, Corch.
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Dude. You can PLAY THE GAMES. You can call the plays. You can design your own offense and see how it works. Think Georgia would be better off running a pure Air Raid? Want to see how dominant Chubb, Michel, and Gurley would be in a triple option offense with Bauta at QB? Go for it (except we didn’t have the game that year). The genre had gotten to near simulation level realism, and that was in 2012. It was amazing and we need it back as soon as possible.
Calling plays in the game is NOT the same as real life, but it’s a hell of a learning experience. You can learn the reads on option plays and the progressions on passing concepts. You can start to recognize the strong side of the defense, and how blocking schemes account for it various running concepts like power, zone, etc.
One man might go look at a roster and maybe keep an eye on last week’s game to scout who Georgia’s playing this week. Another can just pick up his controller, adjust the depth for injuries, etc., and go actually play a few games with that team, calling plays from a simplified version of that coach’s playbook. Not perfect, but hugely enlightening.
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Let me put it another way. I have like a dozen friends from college who would never play any other video game (and they’re not unique). Couldn’t compete if they tried because they SUCK at videogames. But they’re football people and owned systems just to play this game, and played it religiously because it’s that much of a non-“video game” football experience. They knew football better than I did and they’d kick my ass; I played a lot of other videogames.
It’s like a flight simulator for a pilot.
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I’m sure there won’t be any problems arising from changing players’ races and ethnicities.
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