EA Sports To Bring Back College Football
There has been a lot of controversy regarding EA Sports and their department from FIFA. Ending a relationship with FIFA will surely reduce the number of sold copies and their total profit. However, EA Sports just announced that they will bring back their “EA Sports College Football” which is set to launch in the summer of 2024. The College Football version of the game hasn’t been out in ten years and it looks like we will have to wait one more year for it to come out.
Update on EA Sports NCAA College Football
There have been a lot of speculations regarding the return of College Football video game. EA Sports has been silent and never given any comments. However, just a few days ago, they shared their story with ESPN and confirmed the speculations.
Even though EA never officially stated that the game will be released in 2023, there were many speculations that it will. There were a lot of leaked emails between EA and Universities in which the target date was the summer of 2023.
However, now they have officially stated that they need more time to work on this game. It is actually a good thing in the long run as we can expect a good game that covers everything.
What’s Going to Be In The Game?
The game is still a work in progress but as it is confirmed, it will have Dynasty Mode and Road to Glory, both familiar to players of previous editions. It will feature over 120 schools but not every FBS school has signed up just yet. EA still didn’t disclose which schools have so we are still waiting for the confirmation. Some schools refuse to sign the contract unless their player athletes can benefit from it. One of those schools is Notre Dame, and athletic director Jack Swarbrick said that he won’t participate in the new EA Sports college football game until NIL rules finalize. However, just recently, NIL rules have been finalized as the Supreme Court decided that it will suspend the NCAA rule prohibiting college athletes from profiting from their NIL. With that in mind, we can expect that EA will finalize the deal with Notre Dame and get their franchise in no time.
The main intent behind this game is for real college football players to be in the game. A source from EA confirmed that if the player is included in the game, he will be compensated.
Realistic Game
EA experts have already started together information about stadiums, uniforms, and traditions of different schools. They even started recording actual crowd noises to include them in the game. That’s one of the reasons for the postponement, as they need a full college football season to go until the launch. It will give them enough time to record everything and make the game as realistic and authentic as possible.
The game will use the same engine as it uses for Madden, the Frostbite Engine, so we can expect similar player behaviors and realistic movements. It won’t be a Madden close as there are two separate development teams working on those two games.
“We want to make sure that it is distinctly uniquely college football," Holt said. "If someone's worried about it being a clone of 'Madden' or something else, that's not our intent and not the way we're approaching this.” – said EA.
This is exactly what players want.
Can This Game Become an Esports Title?
With Esports games like CS:GO, LOL; and Dota2 leading the scene, is there any room for new Esports titles? Those three games host the most tournaments and have a strong community behind them. For example, during Dota 2 The International 2022, more than 1,7 million people watched the grand final match and more than 1 million Dota 2 bets were placed during the tournament.
EA Games already has three Esports titles, FIFA, Madden, and Apex Legends. All of those games share the same thing, they are competitive games that rely solely on skill. There are no levels or upgradable characters that can help any individual. The college football game should be the same and we can probably expect it to become an Esports title.
Conclusion
The sole fact that EA Sports won’t release this game in 2023 says a lot. If it was going to be a Madden clone, just a college version, they will surely release the game in 2023. Fortunately, that isn’t the case. Therefore, we can expect plenty from this game and it probably won’t disappoint!
