NCAA Football has been on hiatus for nearly seven years now, and the recent announcement of EA Sports College Football is being met with excitement from many fans. The return to college football for EA is something many have speculated about, given recent changes to regulations about pay for college players and other rules in regards to the use of the NCAA license. The new title for NCAA Football hints at somewhat of a reboot for the franchise, which seems to be its legitimate title, and EA Sports College Football could end up something very different from what fans expect.
A post on Twitter from EA revealed that college football games are returning with EA Sports College Football. Excitement started building almost immediately for the return of the popular sports games, but given the state of the NCAA regulations, this may hint at a very different game than the previous NCAA Football titles. Fans may end up receiving something more similar to Doug Flutie's Maximum Football 2019 than the NCAA Football games they remember.
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While the hype for a new NCAA Football is very high among fans, the legal situation for EA here is a bit tricky. As of now, EA doesn't have the full rights to the NCAA license or to any of its players. To get those players in-game isn't impossible, but that requires changes to NCAA rules and legislation about whether college players will be able to profit off of their likenesses as members of the teams themselves. This issue is a big part of why the NCAA Football series ended up suspended in the first place.
What this means for fans is that right now, while EA does have the licenses for over 100 FBS teams, that they may be looking at a college football without their favorite players, teams, or even college stadiums when the game does eventually release. It is likely that, if these conditions don't change before the game's release, EA would implement some sort of team creation system similar to the one present in Maximum Football 2019. That could go a long way to assuaging the concerns of many fans who invest in NCAA Football games as a way to watch their favorite team win championships and see their favorite players dominate the field.
A robust player and team creation system would be greatly accentuated by a way to share those teams with other players via on online system implemented into EA Sports College Football. It is definitely worth noting that this is purely speculative at this point, with an undetermined amount of time between now and the eventual release of EA Sports College Football. There is still plenty of time for the project to navigate the legal situation to obtain more players, franchises, and teams for a new NCAA Football if that does end up the eventual release title of the game. While it does seem that there will be some big changes to the franchise, many fans are already getting excited for the return of EA Sports College Football, and hopefully, it pays off.
EA Sports College Football is currently in development.
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