EA Sports
- An insider has compiled a new list of updates concerning the upcoming reboot of the NCAA Football video game franchise
- College football writer Matt Brown shared a number of new details about the title that EA Sports is apparently gearing up to release in 2023
- Here’s what fans of the beloved series can expect
It’s been close to a year since the NCAA abruptly shifted the stance that had previously banned student-athletes from profiting off of their name, image, and likeness before thrusting the world of college sports into chaos as a result.
There were plenty of questions that were raised following the change in policy, and if one of the first things you found yourself asking was “What impact will this have on my ability to play NCAA Football for the first time in close to a decade?” you certainly weren’t alone.
EA Sports, which spent years teasing the potential return of the beloved franchise, had seen the writing on the wall, as the publisher had officially announced its resurrection in February of 2021. Since then, more details have steadily trickled out—including a release date that’s currently slotted for the summer of 2023.
Now, we have a few new insights courtesy of Matt Brown. The man behind the Extra Points newsletter has spent the past couple of years keeping his ear close to the ground while monitoring the game’s progress and has now provided us with the most comprehensive look yet concerning what we can expect when NCAA Football finally drops.
The biggest takeaway is that EA is focusing on doing everything in its power to include real, actual players who’d be paid for the use of their name and likeness in the game. This would be a huge step up from previous titles that featured generic character designs and only identified athletes by their number (an approach that theoretically could’ve served as a workaround if the company had decided to push forward in the wake of O’Bannon v. NCAA).
As Brown notes, the lack of a player’s union makes that goal much easier said than done (and the fact that some players have signed exclusive NIL deals complicates the matter even more). With that said, he’s spoken with sources who believe “the framework for a college football player video game group license” could be firmed up at some point in the coming months.
It would appear there’s also a chance the NIL deals that played a major role in NCAA Football coming back could be featured in the hallowed Dynasty Mode, as Brown says EA is planning to “update the game based on how college football has changed both on and off the field.”
Again, plenty of things could change between now and the eventual release, but it’s hard not to be fairly optimistic based on how things are currently shaping up.