EA Sports College Football is Making a Return - Exclusive Developer of Simulation College Football - Here's What We Know So Far...

**Insert Matt Driscool Let's GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO video here**

I'm beyond excited. I was following the NCAA NIL laws just hoping for the possibility of a NCAA return.
I haven't bought Madden in a very long time. But, I wouldn't hesitate to pre-order NCAA day one

ESPN says it’s coming to next-gen
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1356645042631434240

Oh my God is this really happening??
New name, no NCAA license? What are realistic expectations here? Are they making deals with individual schools like they were able to for Madden career modes? I know university athletic departments are desperate for cash because of everything lost with COVID, wonder if that played a role in getting the ball rolling on this. Either way, great news.

LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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OH HELL YEAH!!!!!!
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Omg it's happening!!!!!

The Long Dark Age may be ending! Praise Be..

More details
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/30821045/school-plan-ea-sports-do-college-football

HELL YES!!!
Time to really start looking for a PS5!!!!

Wow! I may have to give serious consideration to pick up a PS5. Although guessing I won't feel like dropping that kind of money on it.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/30821045/school-plan-ea-sports-do-college-football
via ESPN

Dang this is awesome. Curious to see how they make it work
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This is a big blow to 2k football they should of tried to get into the NCAA market now they have to compete with madden&NCAA with only a battleground Arcade type of football wowwwww
I'm legit happy college football is back I could cry!!!

Like Ice Cube said, “today was a good day”

Knew we'd see it again some day, but it feels so good to be on the other side now. Now release it on PC!

FINALLY! Just hoping it's a genuine experience. Also hope roster editor will be a thing.

:blush::blush::blush::blush::blush::blush::blush::blush::blush::blush::blush::blush::blush:

I was to point that I was going to tap out of the new generation but not anymore. This is the best news. I cannot wait.

Looks like they are not going the NCAA licensed route.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/30821045/school-plan-ea-sports-do-college-football?platform=amp&__twitter_impression=true

Here’s the press release
EA SPORTS Begins Development of Exclusive New College Football Console Experience
REDWOOD CITY, California and ATLANTA, Georgia - February 2, 2021 - Today, Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA), a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment and sports gaming, and CLC, the nation’s leading collegiate trademark licensing company, announced the expected return of college football to EA SPORTS. The partnership allows for EA SPORTS to be the exclusive developer of simulation college football video game experiences. Development of EA SPORTS College Football is just underway, with launch timing still to come as the project progresses in the years ahead.
For two decades, EA SPORTS entertained millions of fans by recreating the unparalleled pageantry of college football. The EA SPORTS college football franchise was a consistent top-five sports title in North America during its previous run, generating tens of millions unit sales from 2005-2014. In recent years, college football has been one of the most-requested games by fans from EA SPORTS, and today EA is confirming plans for its official return.
"We’ve heard from the millions of passionate fans requesting the return of college football video games,” said Cam Weber, EA SPORTS EVP and GM. “We love the energy, tradition and pageantry of college football and I am beyond thrilled to say we are back in development. We have a lot of really exciting work ahead of us, and a great team that is eager to bring a new game to players in the next couple of years.”
“We’re very excited to collaborate with EA SPORTS to bring back the college football franchise, one of the most popular collegiate licensed products in our history,” said Cory Moss, CLC CEO. “The college football video game connects passionate fans to college brands and introduces new fans to the storied traditions, excitement, and game day experience that make college football unique.”
The new franchise will deliver authentic college football experiences and the high-quality gameplay that fans have long loved in college football games from EA SPORTS. Through the CLC partnership, the franchise will include the rights to more than 100 institutions featuring the logos, stadiums, uniforms, gameday traditions and more that fans have come to know and love. While this college game will not include student-athlete names, images and likenesses, EA SPORTS is continuing to watch those developments closely.
EA SPORTS reaches players all around the globe, and in the past year introduced six new console and PC experiences, as well as ongoing live service offerings on PC and mobile. EA SPORTS franchises delivered sports entertainment to millions of fans with an array of authentic, deep experiences that brought players closer to the sports, teams, and leagues that they love. The return of its most requested franchise will only accelerate momentum and player excitement.
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2k has multiple football games in the works. Whose to say one isn’t a college game?

It’s way early to ask this, but I’ll propose the million dollar question:
Will this game feature some sort of roster editing/sharing feature or tool?
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Yeah very interesting they went through CLC and not the NCAA. That says it all.
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Don't see why it wouldn't. The problem wasn't with sharing rosters, it was with EA basically creating Student-Athletes down to a T (aka stealing likeness) then just not naming them.
Just randomize players 100% and they'll be fine. 2k and MLB have roster sharing and nobody bats an eye. And those sports have huge Players Associations. Hell, The Show has had rosters the devs basically promoted (prior to this year) that created full minors rosters.

LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Words can’t express it man

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What exactly do they loose without the NCAA on board? Conference names and Bowl Game names?

Anyone else get chills? Lmao can’t wait!

Extremely exciting news!! While Madden 21 was a flop, I have hope that this game would have a good dynasty mode. The only reason I have my PS3 still around is for NCAA Football 14, this is exciting.

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Between this and 2k maybe making a football game I’ll be interested in, football video game hype is back in my life!

I’m not sure. In theory they could negotiate with each conference and bowl.
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Damn imagine the irony of just cutting out the NCAA lol

Sounds like they don't have a deal with each FBS school based on the wording right now. Hoping this comes out on PC because I don't want to buy a console for one game.

We back leggo
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Please 8lb 6oz newborn infant jesus let them release it on PC.

Yeah Notre Dame isn’t a part of CLC so it will be interesting to see who isn’t included.
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Na. I wish 2K could do it but it's an exclusive deal again. Check the wording from the press release:
The partnership allows for EA SPORTS to be the exclusive developer of simulation college football video game experiences.

Plus with the chance of PC mods it gives the game a much longer shelf life

NO QUESTION MARKS. ONLY EXCLAMATION POINTS.
But PLEASE don’t let it be a copy of Madden! Get in there and clean this thing up. Make it about football!!!!

As far as I know: Nothing but the NCAA name and logos. Conferences own their own names (most are independent non-profit entities) and so do bowls. The NCAA does not crown a champion for football at all. So they won't even lose the College Football Playoff name. EA just has to negotiate with each individual entity.

Don’t want to derail this thread but “sim football” still hasn’t been defined. EA owns exclusive rights to simulation NFL games, not to simulation FOOTBALL games. 2k could make a sim football game with real NFL players and made up Logos and team names.

Almost right. NCAA doesn’t crown an FBS champion. Technically the FCS champ is the NCAA champion in football.

Yeah, they don't really lose anything not being associated with NCAA. The NCAA brand in general is diminishing and doesn't have the best reputation.
I'm certain NCAA probably had stricter rules and provisions of what EA could do. I'm actually surprised they didn't do it sooner. But I guess with the NIL laws getting closer and the interest increasing, now is a good time.
I wouldn't really expect anything to 2023. It's not as simple as re-skinning Madden. But, I do wonder that since they went through CLC, will they include more College teams in Madden this year and next.

I'm sure EA will be able to cut a deal with them just like they have in the past. Hopefully all of the Power 5 schools will get on board even if they aren't with CLC.

It's been too long!!

According to the press release, FCS schools aren't going to be involved in this game. FBS only. So my comment was correct as stated in regards to this video game.

I’m in no rush, hopefully they take their time and get it right.

CLC has the licenses to most colleges, conferences, and bowl games (including the CFP Championship). They also have the rights to the Heisman trophy. However, they don't have the rights to Notre Dame, Ohio St., or USC.

Hopefully they join the ACC

Well this says simulation college football games. So 2K could make a "college game" but it couldn't have any of the team names, uniforms, stadiums, logos, etc that the press release mentions. And if it doesn't have any of that then it really isn't a college football game, unless they make an FCS game.

A number of conferences, bowl games, and other organizations (ie advocare kickoff classic) are with the CLC. Here’s a full list:
https://clc.com/institution-search/
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This was breaking news on my local sports talk station.

Not to get anyone's hopes up, but CLC has the rights to several FCS schools as well.
So we might get FCS on FBS matchups in the game; too early to tell, but just something I noticed.

It wouldn’t be an NCAA college game, it would still be a college football game with college rules, recruiting, etc.
Just instead of playing as Penn State youd play as some the state college of Pennsylvania

Also I would assume they can negotiate individually with any entity not included in the CLC
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football to EA SPORTS. The partnership allows for EA SPORTS to be the exclusive developer of simulation college football video game experiences.

I was going to try and see what schools they did hold the rights for. I'd like to thing having 100+ now will get the ball rolling with the remaining FBS schools. Who wants to be the brand that is left out and loses all of the potential exposure?
It would be one thing if EA only had the rights to 50 or so schools, but since they say they already have the rights to over 100 I would like to imagine they'll potentially secure deals with those that remain.

From the ESPN article:

So don't get your hopes up at all. FCS schools aren't coming. At least not with the first release.

Yeah, last thing I want is a reskinned Madden. I'm patient, just the thought of it coming back is great. I rather them take their time and build out a good game. I don't want a bare bones reskinned Madden.

I have both Xbox Series X and PS5! I'll be buying for both systems!!

Are we expecting this to come out this year??

Will be a bunch of ultimate team nonsense with gameplay geared toward online not dynasty
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2022 is what they are saying

Na they said definitely not this year, but no date given for future. Earliest is 2022.

No.

Of course there will be an ultimate team mode, but a college football game can’t neglect dynasty mode the way madden did franchise

Nobody official is saying anything at this point. 2022 is just speculation by internet people.

YES!!!!
I know it's EA but I'm beyond excited. First MLB The Show on XBOX, now this? Hell yeah

Will it be on Xbox one too?

Looks like next gen only

If this game is missing major schools, like OSU, Notre Dame, and USC, then that might not sit well with me. Its too early to know if this will be the case though

No. The press statement says they are very early in process. Probably still hiring team. Earliest would be next year. I don't see it taking 2-3 years. Not like they are building from scratch since they can use a lot of the assets from Madden

They specifically stated next gen consoles, but I don’t think they will neglect last gen if the game releases by 2022

For anyone interested here's a client list of CLC as of January of last year:
https://clc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/CLC-Client-List-as-of-January-2020.pdf

Man I've waited to many years to see this thread and todays finally the day. While I'm going to temper my expectations todays not the day for negativity. Awesome news and gives me another sports game to look forward to outside of 2k.

Might miss out on Big 10 and Notre Dame. But hopefully create-a-school is back.

BEST NEWS ... EVER!!!!
I hope it’s coming out this July. NCAA release day used to be a national holiday for me. I would take a week or two of vacation and just immerse myself in its goodness.
This will make me buy a PS5. The only game I play is NCAA 14, so there was no need to go to the PS4.

Yes, it's so incredibly early I wouldn't waste one second thinking about the possibility of them not being included. Pretty sure EA had to negotiate with those schools for past NCAA titles and they were all included there. If Notre Dame wasn't in NCAA 14, then maybe you should worry. But they're there, and were in every NCAA I can remember prior to that, so there's probably little to no chance all 3 of those schools aren't involved in this.

There is no release date, but they said it isn't coming out in 2021.
So don't buy that PS5 just yet!

ND has always negotiated on its own and their AD is a supporter of NIL. They will be in. Always have been.

If I gotta wait another 18 months or so, that’s fine with me. At least I know it is coming back. My excitement level is through the roof. I’m just really hoping Teambuilder is brought back.

The fact that now, even if 2ks football game is something I have no interest in like a mut game or arcade game, I still have a college game to look forward to is amazing.

IMO, it would be brand-suicide if teams/schools don’t want to be included. They know the revenue this franchise brings in, plus the brand awareness. If I’m notre dame or Ohio state, I’m making sure I’m represented in the game. It would be too stupid not to

I'd imagine that EA would negotiate with the big name schools that aren't in the CLC.

I don’t think it’s that teams don’t want to be in, but if they aren’t part of the group like ND or most of the big ten they just have to be negotiated with individually

Yeah this makes Madden being terrible less of a bummer since it's no longer our only option. Big news. Hope they get some really immersive recruiting in the game.

Yes! Yes! Let's gooood baby!!!!!
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Anyone else hoping the DONT get the rights to use player likenesses? I feel like if they don’t get real players that will make the game less appealing to the competitive crowd and more focus will be put on a dynasty mode

I would say that for schools not represented by the CLC, if they were included in Longshot or Face of the Franchise in recent Madden releases, it's probably safe to assume they'll be in this game when it returns.
I believe I remember reading the B1G was the lone P5 conference reluctant to sign any new deals until we got more clarity on the NIL laws. I would imagine their stance will change if it has not already now. I would say there is a near zero percent chance the conference and member schools would want to be the odd man out.
Miami, USC, and others not on that client list, but were in Madden recently... I see no reason they won't be in the next EA CFB release.

I’m already thinking about what my spread triple option offense is going to look like with the addition of real RPOs.
What kinda athletes I’m gonna recruit to run my 4-2-5 defense.
What small school I’ll start my coaching career at until I get offered my dream job at Penn State.
The pageantry of college is back baby!!

I do wonder how they would do it if say they can only get 105 schools. Would they fills in the remaining 25 with made up teams or just go with the 105?

This should be on front page!!

I remember on older games Notre Dame always had their dome logo on the start-up screens. They’d probably just license them directly.

I just hope it as good as the old College Football games on the PS2

Fully expect a completely generic base roster. That’s what got the last games in trouble, EA released with “generic” rosters but the starting qb for Texas A and M was a short white guy from Texas wearing number 2, that was really mobile, everyone knew who it was.

So everyone expects EA to actually make a good football game all of a sudden out of the blue?
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Now let’s get a 2k College Hoops!

You can see the overall excitement of this news. It's #1 trending on Twitter, heck #2 is Madden and how they hope it isn't too similar to it lol

Ps2 was the golden era of football video games.
I remember creating my whole county’s high school football teams and starting a league. It was awesome

Well, much as I hate on EA, this is literally the best news we've had in the sports gaming world in decades.

If they are smart it won’t.

Looks like rosters will be generic but can be edited, see below from EA:
"We’ve just gotten to a point now where we think it’s the right time to bring back,” EA Sports Executive Vice President Cam Weber told The Washington Post. “And we think we can build a deep enough game that really delivers on all those other core components and brings these schools and this kind of gameplay to life. And we’re at a point in time where the schools and conferences are comfortable partnering and building a college football game again and … a lot of that is excluding name, image, likeness of players.”
The Post adds that EA's game will randomly generate attributes, numbers and names for the in-game players, while giving gamers the option to customize and build their favorite teams.

You hit the nail on the head and the pandemic + truncated season + loss of revenue likely led to this/these deal(s).
It'll be interesting how they deal with no player likenesses and likely no roster editing, though.
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I have faith this will be all worked out
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I would love to see a return of College Basketball as well. NCAA Basketball 10 still arguably has the best Broadcast presentation of an EA Sports title.
But, I don't think College Basketball is as marketable. Both EA and 2k dropped out of College Basketball before the NIL issues due to poor sales

A Madden port would be fine, the quality of the game will not be heavily scrutinized- people just want their college football back.

How so? The base “generic” rosters are what got EA in trouble last time, but the roster sharing.

Roster editing will be in

The downloaded rosters were always better than EA rosters anyway.

That’s a good point. Hopefully time off has made it worth it. Especially a digital-only release.

You can put me in the group that would not pay full price for a madden port. The game play is awful, still can’t throw a back end zone fade.
I think this is a great time for EA to stealthily work on a new football game engine and dump frostbite

Awesome and long-awaited news. Can't wait to play with my Pitt Panthers sporting their royal and yellow uniforms and the script logo #H2P

Definitely exciting news. Going to be a long wait for the release.
Wonder what the tipping point was for EA to make this move now? Seems like they've could've gone this route years ago.

Honestly, I dont care if they ever get the real players or not. College Football (and basketball) has always been more about the pageantry, schools and rivalries to me. I'm just glad they arent skirting around NIL anymore. I kind of feel like even with the real player likenesses, things would be the same ratings wise. Tebow, Manziel and Reggie Bush avatars were Gods in game but it never felt like there were too many great players in NCAA Football.
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I know it wasn’t the tipping the point, but it makes me feel good to think it was all the negative press Madden got this year.

Very exciting but if it's using the same gameplay as madden, I won't be playing it probably

Dream come true!!!

It never did in the past so wouldn't think it would now

I don't care if it does play like Madden...give me college football doggonit!!! Playing the College Football Mod on Madden 20 PC has prepared me for this!!

Couldn't let a day like today happen without checking in on my old OS buddies. How about this, eh? Online dynasties used to be the backbone of what we did around here. Hoping to see some of my old OS friends pop up when this game is released so we can do it all over again!

Yes. I always figured football would be first just based off the excitement and money, but I fully expect College Hoops to follow after a few years with hopefully no litigation issues. That, or EA does what EA does and signs an exclusive with the CLC or huge teams like Notre Dame or Ohio State.
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For me the big immersion is playing my college dynasty and then being able to bring those guys over to madden draft and see the guys have a NFL career. I'm super excited for that!

Personally I think college hoops is easier to pull off. College hoops can definitely be a NBA2K port with the Dynasty and MyPlayer game modes. Doesn't seem like a port would be that costly which would make generating a profit easier.

Madden is solid to me. It isnt exceptional, or great, but it's good enough. I'm good with Maddens current gameplay tweakes to college with NCAA Footballs presentation and pageantry.
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Like other people have mentioned, I doubt the game will have a roster editing tool. They wouldn’t want the end- user infringing on the likeness rights of current or former athletes, again.
It'll be monitored and scrutinized way more then prior to the O'Bannon case & EA doesn't want that smoke.
Randomized, generic rosters is likely the best we'll get (maybe attribute editing, though).
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I wonder how much of this is leftover from what reportedly would have been EA College Football 2015. Supposedly EA was still rearing to go even after the NCAA pulled out but then more and more school pulled out fearing lawsuits.
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Today is a fantastic day. And I bet they have the players' likeness **** ironed out by then

Absolutely! I haven't been this excited since 2013! I have so many questions...starting with...I wonder if they still have the plans that they had for NCAA 15 with the Creation Suite etc.? If this is going to be generic, then I hope they do like Canuck and give us great customization options.

Where is that confirmed?
People should be skeptical that it happens since that is treading too close to the likeness issues that got the series canned.
We'll see, but I'm expecting limited roster editing (attributes only) at best & no editing at worst.
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Looks like rosters will be generic but can be edited, see below from EA:
"We’ve just gotten to a point now where we think it’s the right time to bring back,” EA Sports Executive Vice President Cam Weber told The Washington Post. “And we think we can build a deep enough game that really delivers on all those other core components and brings these schools and this kind of gameplay to life. And we’re at a point in time where the schools and conferences are comfortable partnering and building a college football game again and … a lot of that is excluding name, image, likeness of players.”
The Post adds that EA's game will randomly generate attributes, numbers and names for the in-game players, while giving gamers the option to customize and build their favorite teams.

Christmas in February.

Sold American!
Also, just putting this out there, but I did deep thinking about why I loved the college game more than madden versions, and the conclusion wasn't anything about gameplay. It is absolutely psychological. In madden, people focus their desires in that they want way more competition and struggle to win every single game, every single play and true simulation fighting for every yard. I get it. I would appreciate it, as well. In the college game, though, most mindsets are that you absolutely have/had to go undefeated and run up the score every game because that's usually the only way you are getting to the title game. A lot of the same struggles to win games or every single play just isn't as desired (or at all). I'm not saying this is for everyone, but again, I did a deep dive into the psychology of both games for myself, and that was the hard reality/conclusion for me.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!,!,!!
Edit : legit got chills.
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That says nothing about player editing and mentions creating your favorite schools (Team Builder).
I'm sure people would want a way to add "real" players into the game, but roster sharing or full player editing could expose them to litigation (again).
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I'm ready for my hopes to be ruined with whatever product they put out.

So glad it's coming back.
I never understood why they didn't just go generic players once the lawsuits started flying. After four seasons, it's all generic players anyway. And I always felt the game was more fun once the "real" players cycled out and I was playing with my recruits.

They should have done that from the start imo. The issue wasn't roster share, it was EA blatantly walking that line and even putting home town on players bio.

I found this interesting...
"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."
That'll maybe give them the flexibility to give us the choice of creating more than a 4-Team playoff if the playoffs don't expand between now and then maybe???

2K CAN make a College Football game but it just has to be non-simulation just like their NFL game. Don't want to derail the thread but their obsession with monopolization needs to end.
Otherwise I'm stoked for a next gen college football game, and I'll just buy a next gen console in 2022.

I agree. I would just be happy that the game is back and has its foot in the door. We can focus on issues like this afterwards.

This. A lot of people get confused and think the roster sharing is what caused the issues. That's not it all. If EA goes the generic route and the users generate the named rosters and share those with each other for free, as long as EA doesn't market the ability to get named rosters, they'll be following the line they are supposed to.

Your take on this is spot on , I think. Its just different, especially with the undefeated aspect that you mentioned. You have the polls, rakings, playoff standings, it all adds more to the experience.

Some keep mentioning that they do not have NCAA licensing this time but that’s not completely true. The CLC is the licensing firm for the NCAA so, this announcement doesn’t rule out NCAA branding.
https://www.ncaa.org/championships/marketing/ncaa-licensing-program-faqs#two

They guy mentioned that they are purposely not putting NCAA in the title name and just calling it EA Sports College Football because it allows them to work around certain "things" as they see the direction college football is moving in. I wonder if them not having NCAA branding will be better for them flexibility wise as far as customization is concerned?

This is great news it’s come full circle as EA original college games were basically generic as well. This is why I don’t get the 2k argument they can literally go the same route with football pro and college if they had the desire to. Ea is stepping out taking a chance good for them. Only thing is unless that ncaa deal with players goes through their won’t be robust roster share or editing

An underrated part of this announcement is that EA is partnering with ESPN again. ESPN has been promoting this from all of their social media accounts and their tv personalities are promoting it (Herbstreit, Yates, etc). That was a big part of the immersion of the Xbox 360 games so I'm glad to see that's still a priority for them.

Holy COW.....wait....Seriously...SOMEBODY PINCH ME. I Must be dreaming....
I thought this was fake when I first started readin' the info...
I CAN"T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's going to be quite disappointing to I'm sure many others than just myself, if the Xbox One I spent money on only a couple years ago is obsolete if I wish to finally ditch my 360 to play the new game.
$500 for next gen console, and another $60 for the game itself. Desperately hoping for backwards compatibility to the One series.

I never understood why they didn't just go this route from the start.
I do wonder how the random roster generator will work. It would be nice if a team like Alabama still had a high prestige level and the players were still generally highly rated, but I'm not sure if that might infringe upon player likeness.
Regardless this is exciting news. The NCAA franchise was absolutely my most played game from the first time I bought it as a young kid in the late 90s all the way through NCAA 14 after I had graduated college and had a real world job. NCAA 14 doesn't cut it for me anymore due to its general lack of depth and certain on field issues, and so I'm all in on a reboot to the series.
I wasn't planning on entering the new console generation, but if this doesn't come to PC then I definitely will.

2022 will be 2 years after the "next gen" consoles released. I'd personally prefer they focus on developing for the PS5, Xbox Series s|x and PC rather than trying to build this game for old out of date hardware.

Will they still use the weather channel ?

College Hoops 2K8 is still my all time favorite game
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Hopefully on PC as well as the Next Gen Consoles.

What I like most is the constant turnover of players, every year the team feels different and every five years your roster is 100% new from five years ago

We're at least on the other side of the dark age of having no current college sports games in sight. After all the work everyone's done to keep 14 alive all these years, I'm just damn proud of this community for weathering the storm! I'm stoked to see how it all unfolds :popcorn:

Now let’s just keep our fingers crossed that that their is nothing remotely close to an XP progression system in the game

Great news. I'm excited and look forward to more news on this.
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I've been waiting for this day since we found out in 2014 that they wouldn't be making a new college football game! I had no interest in buying a next gen console as I was still using my 360 for NCAA 14 and CH2k8 way more than I ever used my XBOX One, but now I'll be looking for a cheap XBOX X/S when this game releases!

Best news I've seen all year.
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If this really was the issue you’re making it out to be, we wouldn’t have customizable draft classes in professional sports games

WHAT DO I DO WITH MY HANDS!

Yep this is what they should have done, but ironically because customers whined non stop about players on the rosters not resembling their real life counterparts well enough out of the box and making things harder on roster makers, EA made life easier on them and of course the rest is history.

Yeah. The EA ESPN deal is set to expire this year. Surprised they didn't announce an extension yet. Those types of deals don't just expire unless they don't plan on extending it.

Man, right when I was ready to quasi-retire from gaming and never buy another console...this or College Hoops 2K8 were the only two games that could get me to buy a new console and sure enough, here one is.

Personally I've stopped watching American football in the time since NCAA was put on hiatus, but happy to see people get excited.
But the general trend in video games the last 8 years or so would have me skeptical.
They will market this game to people who play Fortnite, not dudes in their 30s or 40s.
It will have tones of microtransactions.
It will be animation based and probably use Frostbite.
Doubt the single player experience will be anywhere approaching the old depth.
The legal questions about players, editing and all appropriate teams, ect, need to be sorted out and not hidden for the last minute.
It's going to be a while before we see what it plays like.
Hope it is worth your wait, good luck.

Too many schools were dropping out because of the fear of further litigation. That was one of the main reasons behind the cancelation after NCAA 2014.
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I will keep my PS3 and xbox and wait to see what the games look like.
I hope it is nothing like the latest Maddens and hopefully they get back to being good games and not crap. IMO

Already announced that it's PS5/SX only.
This game is coming out for the 2022 season at the earliest. "Next gen" consoles will be $300 by then.

Yeah they tried to appease customers and it bit them in the butt. It was one thing to have same numbers and skill sets, but they crossed that line when they did similar height and weight, home towns(or as close as possible), and trying to match avatar with real life counterparts. Players knew they were in the games. Everyone knew who QB#15 was for Florida. Even guys like Saquan said how they missed out on being in the game. Hell, I remember Ben Haumiller doing an interview and showing a clip of South Carolina and saying how WR#1 was one of the best WR in country and trying to be coy about it not being Alshon Jeffery.
I could care less about real life rosters. It'll be nice, but it doesn't matter outside of Online H2H. If you do Dynasty or even RTG, once you get past year 2, the entire league is mostly different anyway. I usually started at a 1star school and simmed the first 2 seasons while just recruiting.
Hopefully the NIL law includes group licensing. That way it allows college athletes to partner with a single entity that EA can negotiate with.

What are the chances of real coaches? I know we are over a year away from a game, at the minimum, and all the NIL stuff for athletes could change, but is there a .001% chance for coach likeliness?
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Yeah EA had full plans for a NCAA 15 that was way more customizable, but too many teams feared litigation. I'd have to imagine the NIL law has to be voted on soon. NCAA has been delaying it a much as possible. But with states like Florida having their own laws go in effect this summer, no one wants certain states to have a big recruiting advantages

Shouldn't they aren't NCAA. Conferences own their own rights, as do the bowls. Not even the playoff is NCAA.

This tweet by Darren Rovell (former ESPN financial insider) puts it bluntly guys:

The schools and EA will want to do everything in their power to avoid another costly lawsuit. They might add attribute only editing but anything that allows the end - user to fully "recreate" real athletes (on mass) will likely be out.
It'll likely return once players can monetize their own likenesses.
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Does this mean 2k announcement coming soon? Great way to steal the spotlight.. Good news anyway

The game brought me here in 2005. Been here ever since. Glad she's coming back home.

I doubt it. By next year, the NIL law should be in place. I think Florida goes in effect this year. I think the original goal was to have a national law go in effect this year Jan 2021, but it kept getting pushed back until after election. The proposed Democrat Bill allows for Group licensing.
Is there a coaches association in college?

Off-topic: It might be possible that 2K might have something official to announce soon, but this huge announcement hurts the luster of their next official info drop (IMO).
Trying to market a "non - simulation" title in between two popular, highly coveted "simulation" titles will be daunting (after this year or the next).
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Best NEWS EVER!!!! Can't wait.

There are other proposed bills that would allow group licensing. The original goal was to have something in effect by this year, but NCAA seemed reluctant. With states like Florida having their own NIL law going in effect this year and California in a couple years, whatever gets approved would have to happen almost immediately so some states wouldn't get an advantage

I believe they had official coaches for a lot of the NCAA titles in the past, so retaining many of them will likely come down to money.
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I know there are plenty reasons to be cynical and we can dive into the details later, but for now . . .
IT'S HAPPENING! . gif

I wonder if 2K could get the same deal EA has here? I do not see anything here about exclusivity so it could be on the table.

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LETS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wonder if Kirk Herbstreit and Fowler will be the commenters and if they will use ESPN graphics and overlays

Yes Lawd!!!!
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I think it has been so long that I played any college football game except 14 that I do not remember actual coaches being in the game.

I was wondering the same thing about a college coach association. I have no idea.
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I would think someone like Nick Saban wouldn't want to be involved, but just for recruiting purposes, why wouldn't a coach want to be involved. For teen athletes to constantly see your face in a video is a big sell for recruiting

Yeah, maybe I'm remembering wrong and the titles didn't have collegiate head coaches.
I tried to pop in my old copy of NCAA 12 to verify my claim, but the disk is unreadable.
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This has been a great 24 hours of sports gaming news for me. Last night I just found out that MLB the show is coming to Xbox (I know, I'm waaay late to that news) and now top it off with the return of NCAA football!! My oh my, this is just some great news.
I'm sure NCAA is over a year off unfortunately, but at least knowing its coming back, wow. I was just playing 14 the other day after a long break from it and as fun as it is it was painful to see how bad it looks compared to current games, but knowing it's coming in next gen glory.. wow!

NCAA devs like Ben Haumiller and Christian McLeod is still on Madden. Even Rex Dickson might be interested in returning because he said he enjoyed his time then. So that plus pieces assets from Madden, makes the time line for next game not that far away
I always preferred NCAA over Madden. Heck, it got me into college football. Ever since NCAA 14, I stopped watching College football. I always felt NCAA had more creative freedom than Madden. It felt like as long as they were profitable, they could do what they want.
Yeah gameplay was similar. But the college playbooks and tempos, made gameplay feel different than Madden. The environment and college playbooks was what separated the game

No the press release said it's exclusive. 2K would have to be a generic game without official teams, stadiums, uniforms, etc

EXACTLY xCOACHDx...make it about football!!!! I don't care about X factor Superstars or any of the glitter and glamour...just let it be about the game of college football.
I'll stick to NCAA Revamped if they make this game like Madden.

Today isn't the day to do this. Honestly, let people have sometype of joy today.

I'm with SolidSquid. :waytogo:

It's a muddy legal situation when you're talking about a scenario where they're completely randomizing the rosters and include roster editing ability but I'm going to guess by the time they get around to actually releasing the game, it won't matter. It's pretty clear where it's all going when it comes to college athletes.
I don't think they would have even bothered with making the announcement/getting back into the game if they didn't have some pretty reliable information that at some point real names/likenesses are going to be viable.