It's fair to say Electronic Arts has refused to stay out of the spotlight in recent weeks.
It was announced recently that their exclusivity deal held over Star Wars games had ended , with Lucasfilm Games now “ entering a partnership ” with Lucasfilm Studios to work on a number of new titles. Along with this, Mass Effect: Legendary Edition was officially announced , with May 14 confirmed as the official release date.
While both of these are huge announcements, their sub-branch, EA Sports, has continuously dominated the scene when it comes to sports games in the last few years, with franchises such as FIFA and Madden generating a huge number of returning players. Criticism has been submitted regarding the morality of these games, with the ever-popular 'Ultimate Team' modes enticing players to spend even more money on the games with no guaranteed rewards.
While these titles continue to generate a huge amount of revenue for the company, it seems as though EA Sports will be returning to a previous franchise in the near future.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL IS BACK
EA Sports announced on Twitter that the NCAA series of games are making a return. No official release date is revealed, but the publisher says that this is “ for those who never stopped believing. ”
The full tweet can be seen below:
For those who never stopped believing...#EASPORTSCollegeFootball pic.twitter.com/2vDUYnbXEJ
THIS ONE'S FOR THE FANS
Following the release of NCAA Football 14 and legal disputes between the association, Electronic Arts, college athletes, and others regarding the usage of college athletes' likenesses, it was announced that the licensing deal would not be renewed, and the series would be canceled.
Since then, however, fans of the franchise have continued to play the game, with multiple unofficial updates created by users, allowing players to receive the most recent versions of a team's roster. Following a vote in October 2019, the NCAA “ voted unanimously to institute new rules allowing student-athletes to profit from the use of their name, image, and likeness, ” which lead to a number of fans speculating a new game would be in the works. Seeing as these changes were in effect from last month, the timing seems awfully convenient.
This announcement is sure to please fans of the franchise, giving players the chance to play college football with next-generation graphical improvements.
It's unclear what will be changed from the previous entries within the series, and with more news seemingly coming soon, fans will be hoping for a release date reveal within the coming months.
XBOX Writer