After it was reported on Wednesday that EA Sports College Football was set to launch in July 2023, more new details have since come out about the game courtesy of the same source of the release date.
Matt Brown of Extra Points made public information he obtained via Open Records requests made to over 100 universities. These requests involved communication between the universities, EA Sports, and the Collegiate Licensing Company.
The documentation addresses details ranging from the game’s release date to roster customization .
What EA Sports College Football Needed?
In the received documents that you can read by subscribing to Extra Points, EA Sports discussed the various assets needed from the participating programs for their inclusion in the game.
These assets included logos, uniforms, school-owned band recordings, and more. The universities were also notified that EA Sports would need access to scan stadiums, trophies, costumed mascots, and various university-specific traditions.
There will be more than 100 universities in the game, meaning EA Sports’ asset team has its work cut out. Right now, EA Sports isn’t working with the NCAA in any capacity on the brand new game.
Roster Customization
One of the biggest concerns for EA Sports College Football right now involves roster customization. Even without NIL agreements in place that allow student athletes to profit off their likeness, many fans were hopeful that the ability to customize rosters would still make its way into the game. Unfortunately for those fans, that doesn’t appear to be the case right now.
“With policies surrounding the use of student-athlete name, image, and likeness have yet to be finalized, the current proposal put forth by the NCAA does not permit current student-athlete NIL to be used,” the proposal reads.
It continued: “With this in mind, EA proposes to release a game with completely generic avatars that CANNOT be construed as a current player (facial features, hometown, ethnicity, body structure, etc.) and is committed to putting controls in place to ensure that there will be no way for consumers to manipulate and edit the in-game avatars to create a likeness to current players.”
The company references the fact that similar controls are in place for the 10 collegiate programs in Madden NFL 21.
Platforms and DLC
System wise, EA Sports is developing it for the “fifth generation of hardware”. That signals that it will be on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S while skipping the PS4 and Xbox One. This makes sense as the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S will be in their third years by then. There was no mention of a PC release for EA Sports College Football in the proposal.
In regards to DLC, EA Sports dedicated a full paragraph to the matter. In part, the section talks about DLC being a “significant factor” in EA’s games. DLC lets EA “extend and enhance the experience and offer ways to add further values to players”. It also mentions the additional revenue it creates for the company while still being “always optional” for players.
Nothing Set In Stone with EA Sports College Football
Right now, the only thing set is the game coming. The release date, schools, and likenesses are all subject to change. Within the next year, it’s possible to see the NCAA reach an agreement allowing student-athletes to profit of their names. This would certainly lead to discussions for having players and roster customization in the game.
An NIL agreement will also see schools like Notre Name and Northwestern reevaluate their decisions to opt out of being the in the game. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens with everything before EA Sports College Football’s hopeful July 2023 launch.