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EA Sports is returning to college football.
After making a college football video game for the last time in 2013, the possibility of the game returning was in limbo. Now this is not the case. Daryl Holt, vice president and general manager of EA Sports, told ESPN that the game’s creator will be returning to space with EA Sports College Football.
“As we seek out the momentum that we are building in the sport, it all starts with the passion of our fans and the opportunities for what interests them,” said Holt. “I don’t think there’s a visit where I go outside wearing EA Sports branded clothing that someone doesn’t say, ‘Hey, when is college football coming back? “”
It will be – at some point. Holt has said there is no return date for the game or even a date that the return will be announced, other than that he will not be returning for this year.
To make the game a reality, EA Sports has teamed up with college licensing company CLC to ensure that schools, traditions, uniforms, and FBS playbooks – among other things – are ready to play. More than 100 teams will be in the game.
For now, EA Sports plans to move forward without lists containing the names, pictures or likenesses of actual college players. Current NCAA rules prohibit athletes from selling their NIL rights while in college.
However, these rules are subject to change at some point in the coming year – by the NCAA, state legislatures, or Congress. It is not yet clear whether the evolving rules will allow the type of group licensing arrangements that would be necessary for EA Sports to negotiate with athletes to use their names in the game.
Holt said EA Sports will monitor the discussion on the NIL if and when things change, but it’s too early for that to happen. He also said that what happens in NIL legislation will not change if gambling happens or when it ends up on the shelves.
“We’ll keep an eye on everything as it evolves, and we’ll be ready,” said Holt. “It won’t be a problem for us. But it’s really not a solution for us to decide at the moment. We are as many passengers as anyone else.
“So we make sure we deliver what our college football players would want in a game. And it starts with a very immersive experience, and there’s a lot we can do to bring the real game and college game day. to the virtual world. “
Holt said EA Sports is still very early in the process of developing the game, building the squad and deciding which direction they want the game to go. Conversations about returning the game began over a year ago, Holt said. The combination of the company’s momentum and the technology it saw on next-gen platforms such as the Sony PS5 and Xbox Series X further bolstered its decision to return to space.
“What we had as plans to grow and expand our portfolio, college football has always been at the top of my list, personally, working with the Tiburon studio where it was established,” said Holt. “So it was an easy conversation internally to say, ‘Here’s how we’ll approach it in terms of design, and here’s how we can move that forward.
“It’s been going on for quite some time and it certainly wasn’t a ‘wait and see what happens here’ even though there is continued legislation being proposed. It’s more about what we think we can do around the game and for our [game] players. “
A change from previous iterations of the game – for now – will be the name of the game. In previous iterations of the game from 1997 to 2014, the NCAA Football title was used, along with the year. Before that, it was College Football USA for two years and, in the game’s first two years, Bill Walsh College Football.
Holt said the reboot plan would be to not have the NCAA name but just use EA Sports College Football.
“It really starts with where we see college football. There is a lot going on, and there is a lot going on in sport,” said Holt. “EA Sports College Football is giving us a name and a brand to work on for some things that could evolve, as well as what we are really focusing on from the start, which is the FBS Division I schools and the road to them. college football qualifiers and the college football championship.
“So we thought EA Sports College Football was the right name for the product not just now but for the future as well.”
The game, whenever it returns, will be the first college football title since NCAA Football 2014, which had former Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson on cover.
ESPN reporter Dan Murphy contributed to this report.
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