New rumors are circulating that EA's revival of its NCAA College Football franchise will release sometime during 2023. EA revealed earlier this year that college football will return to gaming, but has not offered an official timeframe of when that will happen. If this rumor is true, then it will be a full decade since the last installment of the franchise with 2013's NCAA Football 2014.
Prior to 2013, EA had released some form of a College Football video game every year since 1993. The series ended up getting canceled mainly due to legal issues of using the likeness of collegiate athletes without compensating them. At the time, student athletes were prohibited from profiting off of their name, image, or likeness due to NCAA regulations. Earlier this year, however, the Supreme Court made a ruling in favor of the athletes getting compensated, and now it appears the return of EA's beloved franchise could be just a few years away.
National college football reporter Brandon Marcello tweeted that EA Sports has its sights set on 2023 to bring college football back to gaming. According to Marcello, the CEO of Collegiate Licensing Co. Cory Moss hopes the series revival can happen in the summer of that year. The tweet sharing this information received a lot of positive attention from fans, many of whom shared their hope that the current development team can meet the standards set by the installments from a decade prior.
EA Sports titles tend to release just prior to the upcoming season of whatever sport a particular game is simulating, meaning a summer 2023 target would likely encompass the 2023-2024 college football season. As of now, it is still unknown exactly how programs and their athletes will be compensated for allowing their image and likeness to be used. The University of Notre Dame stated it will not participate in EA Sport's new title until concrete rules are established regarding player payment.
Seeing as how EA already has a similar ongoing format with its Madden series, and given the history of its NCAA Football games, it appears the title's development is not what is holding things back. There are likely to be many legal discussion over the course of 2022 in order to figure out exactly how colleges will participate in this game. Compared to their professional counterparts, the individual schools seem to have more say over how they are represented. EA is determined to bring back NCAA College Football, however, and the next year is certain to be filled with many tense negotiations about the game.
Source: Brandon Marcello/Twitter