With an announcement that will surely excite every child who grew up playing video games in the early 2000s, EA Sports is bringing back its college football video game.
Electronic Arts made the announcement over its Twitter account with the message “For those who never stopped believing…”.
For those who never stopped believing…#EASPORTSCollegeFootball pic.twitter.com/2vDUYnbXEJ
— EA SPORTS (@EASPORTS) February 2, 2021
The company’s vice president and general manager, Daryl Holt, also spoke to ESPN confirming the return of the beloved video game franchise. The titling of the game, which once was named “NCAA Football”, will be rebranded to “EA Sports College Football.”
“As we look for the momentum that we’re building in sports, it all starts with the passion of our fans and the opportunities of what they are interested in,” Hold said to ESPN. “I don’t think a visit where I go outside wearing a piece of EA Sports branded apparel, that someone doesn’t go, ‘Hey, when is college football coming back?'”
Holt mentioned to ESPN that there is currently no time table for the game to make its welcomed return.
In order to create the game, EA teamed with the collegiate licensing company CLC to ensure they were able to have FBS schools, proper uniforms, playbooks and traditions among other things. The ESPN article also mentioned that the game will have over 100 playable teams to pick from.
Even with the announcement of the game’s return, there still some hurdles for EA Sports to climb, especially when it comes to name image and likeness. As of now, it isn’t a sure-fire thing, that the game will be able to use athletes names in the upcoming game.
Holt told ESPN that the company will continue to monitor the NIL discussion but also mentioned that the outcome of the legislation will not alter whether the game will be made or not.
The game will be made regardless.
“We’ll just keep tabs on everything as it develops and we’ll be ready,” Hold told ESPN. “That won’t be a problem for us. But it’s really, that’s not an answer for us right now to decide. We’re as much passengers as anyone else.
“So we make sure we deliver what our college football game players would want in a game. And that starts with just a very immersive experience and there’s lots of things we can do to bring the true college game play and game day to the virtual world.”
Conversations of whether to bring the game back or not first began a year ago the article reported, with the Next Gen consoles like the PS5 and XBox Series X playing a major factor in the decision to bring back the game.
The last time college football fans were able to play the game was back in 2014 when Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson graced the cover.
Whether the reboot will be able to contain everyone’s favorite current athletes is yet to be known, but for now, long time fans will appreciate the return of a piece of their childhood.
*Get the BEST Alabama football insider information, message board access, and recruiting coverage today! SIGN UP HERE to unlock our subscriber only content!*
Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
