The NCAA football video game franchise was loved by a certain niche of fans who loved college football and video games alike. Since this isn’t a particularly large niche compared to fans who love professional football and video games, EA Sports discontinued the franchise after the 2014 edition was released. So for the past six years, college football video games have been missing the light, and there have been no competitors scrambling to secure the NCAA rights to make a new one. It’s been a sad six years.
The sad times are over, folks. Not the sad times we’re currently living in mind you, but specifically the sad times when we don’t have a college football video game. Because EA Sports just dropped an announcement. An announcement that they’re bringing it back, baby. Type of.
EA makes a lot of great games but is so big at this point that they are essentially the SkyNet of the video game industry. For one thing, I refused to give myself the false hope that they would actually give people what they want. When it comes to EA, it almost always is when it’s too good to be true.
Given the SportsCenter account, this seems obvious. If ESPN has the confirmation it is most likely true, with the added detail that these are next generation consoles.
Breaking: EA Sports is relaunching its college football series for next generation consoles. The announcement ends the hiatus the game has taken since then – Michigan QB Denard Robinson appeared on the cover of NCAA Football 14. pic.twitter.com/rMniJUDDeW
This doesn’t technically seem like a sequel to the NCAA franchise. It is simply billed as EA Sports College Football. ESPN has more details:
To make the game a reality, EA Sports worked with college licensing company CLC to make sure the FBS schools, traditions, uniforms and game books – among other things – are ready for the game. Over 100 teams will be in the game.
Currently, EA Sports plans to move forward with no rosters that include names, pictures, or likenesses of real college players. The current NCAA rules forbid athletes from selling their NIL rights while studying.
Anyway: Hooray! Now we don’t have to settle for seeing Barstool Big Cat hop around as Coach Duggs if we are to quench our appetites for college football games. We can all be our own Coach Duggs.
Ref: https://www.thebiglead.com
