EA Sports is currently working on a new college football video game, which will be called EA Sports College Football. But things might be a little different with the game now that NCAA has ruled in favor of student-athletes profiting off of their name, image and likeness (NIL). Shortly after NCAA made the decision, EA Sports made an announcement concerning the video game.
“We are watching the recent developments regarding student-athlete name, image and likeness very closely,” the statement says, per Sporting News. “It’s still very early stages at this point, and we plan to explore the possibility of including players in EA SPORTS College Football. For now, our development team is focused on working with our partners at CLC to ensure the game authentically showcases the great sport of college football and the more than 100 institutions signed on to be featured in our game.”
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EA Sports was known for its college football video games. However, the last college football video game to be released was NCAA Football 14 as EA Sports was forced to quit production on the game due to legal issues surrounding the game’s use of player likenesses. The new game is set to be released in July 2023 and will not feature rosters or likenesses of college football teams. But team names, stadiums and other features are expected to be licensed.
“We’ll just keep tabs on everything as it develops, and we’ll be ready,” EA Sports vice president and general manager Daryl Holt told ESPN in February. “That won’t be a problem for us. But it’s really, that’s not an answer for us right now to decide. We’re as much passengers as anyone else. “So we make sure we deliver what our college football game players would want in a game. And that starts with just a very immersive experience, and there’s lots of things we can do to bring the true college game play and game day to the virtual world.”
Holt also explained why the game is being called EA Sports College Football. “It all starts really with where we see college football as going. There’s a lot of things happening, and there’s a lot of things happening in sports,” Holt said. “EA Sports College Football gives us a name and a brand to kind of work around for some things that might evolve as well as what we’re focusing on really out of the gate, which is really the FBS Division I schools and the road to the College Football Playoff and college football championship.”
