For the better part of EA Sports’ tenure as arguably the premiere brand for authentic sports video games, official licensing has been on the side of the company. However, following the launch of NCAA Football 14, EA Sports would shelve the beloved series due to player compensation and licensing issues. Now, just over a decade later, EA Sports aims to revamp the series and bring it back to its lineup of sports games along with official licensing in EA Sports College Football. Unfortunately for hopeful fans, a series of recent reports point to this not being as easy a task as perhaps originally thought.
College Football moves forward but licensing remains problematic
In a recent earnings call, EA CEO, Andrew Wilson, spoke on the progress being made on EA Sports College Football saying-
“Gameplay is really coming together, and really capturing all the action of pageantry, and the difference in college football versus the NFL. I feel really confident in what the team’s doing.”
While progress on the game is reportedly steady and laying a solid foundation for the future, Wilson admits there is work to be done on the authenticity front. As mentioned earlier, licensing has been a huge part of the NCAA series and, despite development progress, remains an issue. Wilson goes on to say he expects the company to be able to overcome this by the time the game launches. This sentiment comes despite litigation against EA over player compensation as well as an athlete-targeted boycott. It appears confidence in the matter comes from EA having managed to get “many, if not most, of the schools licensed” for EA Sports College Football.
Getting it right
School participation is one thing, but player likeness appears to be a whole different matter. EA Sports College Football will be the first college football launched for the company since 2013. The shelving of the series follows a lawsuit that awarded a $60 million settlement in favor of the athletes featured in EA college games from 2004 to 2013. With the changes to NIL, players this time around will need to be compensated for their inclusion. However, in what some might consider typical EA fashion, how much compensation appears to be the problem. The original lawsuit that shelved the series saw $1600 paid to about 24,819 people and more to the representatives. Early reports point to EA pooling compensation for players rather than specific payouts, coming to about $500 an athlete with no royalties this time around. The deal resulted in the aforementioned boycott and potential litigation. As it stands, it’s not a matter of if EA Sports College Football will launch, but if it will actually manage to include players. EA Sports College Football is expected next year.
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