We previously reported on the EA Sports College Football possible release date back in July of last year. Unfortunately, that date seems to have been pushed back according to a report from Matt Brown stating the EA is expected to make a formal accountment Tuesday morning that the game will be pushed back to 2024.
Per multiple sources familiar with the situation, EA is expected to announce tomorrow morning around 10 AM ET that EA Sports College Football will be delayed until 2024. More details to come tomorrow. https://t.co/iatNaUnnEz
— Matt Brown (@MattBrownEP) November 22, 2022
Matt Brown has done extensive reporting on the EA Sports College Football game in the year and a half since its announcement. Brown has reported on documents from as recently as February of this year that the game was still projected to be released in July 2023. He has also reported on what EA Sports had been asking schools to provide to EA Sports for the game, such as fight songs, cheers, and other traditions that fans see on game day. Brown’s history of covering this title lends credibility to his tweet about a possible delay. Brown also tweeted that the delay announcement would confirm previous reports on features/assets.
Possible Reason for EA Sports College Football Delay
Could this possibly be to include real-life player names and likenesses in the game? EA has commented on this very subject stating:
“We are watching the recent developments regarding student-athlete name, image and likeness very closely. 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.”
The Wait Continues
If EA Sports does indeed announce a delay for the first licensed college football video game since 2013, fans will definitely be disappointed. Following the announcement that the game would return, fans have been itching for any bit of information. Some days you couldn’t go on Twitter without seeing people talk about how excited they are for it to release.
That is how dedicated the fan base has remained in the almost ten years since the last game was released. Giant mod teams have been assembled to continue updates to previous iterations, like College Football Revamped for NCAA Football 14 and NCAA NEXT for NCAA Football 2006. Viewership for NCAA Football content on Twitch and YouTube saw a resurgence following the announcement that the game was coming back. Hopefully, EA Sports will be able to sustain that hype throughout the longer development cycle.
I guess we will see if the delay will bring us a better game, ensuring the gameplay is up to par, and launches with as few bugs as possible. Stay tuned as we will keep you up the date with the latest on EA Sports College Football.