It’s Back!: College Football Video Game Planned to Return

On February 2, video game company Electronic Arts (EA) released a statement announcing the return of the college football video game series. 

Millions of fans have been begging for a revival of college football games on social media since the release of the last game in 2013. However, the release timeline has not been specified by the company and EA even confirmed that it would not be released this year. The game is still in the early stages of development, and according to ESPN, the news is more of “a commitment for the game to return at some point.”

EA is working with Collegiate License Company (CLC) to acquire the rights to use stadiums, uniforms, mascots, and names for over 100 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). But given the current state of NCAA policy, the game will not be able to include names, images, and likenesses of players, as was the case in the previously released games.  

Daryl Holt, EA Sports vice president and general manager, said the game will be “a deep, immersive experience that has true wide-open game play for college football.” 

Many fans have speculated the new capabilities of Next Gen consoles like PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X could make the game truly special. Holt also said their main focus right now is on the gameplay and they will build out from there. 

In addition, EA has chosen to discontinue the “NCAA” name from the title of the game; instead, the game will simply be called “EA Sports College Football”. 

Although much is in the works, the news of the game returning is exciting to sports fans and video game lovers alike.