After teasing the release of a new college football video game last February, EA Sports has reportedly narrowed down a release window for the much-anticipated project.
According to a Jan. 2021 proposal obtained by the newsletter Extra Points With Matt Brown, the company along with the Collegiate Licensing Corporation informed schools they aim to drop a CFB game sometime in July 2023. CLC management later sent a follow-up proposal to multiple D-I schools in Feb. of this year with an update confirming “game development is in full swing” and the “launch goal is still summer of 2023.”
While neither report included details of a specific date, EA Sports noted in last year’s proposal the targeted timeframe will allow for the “two-year game development window necessary for collecting game assets and developing game play to meet the current market demands for a unique college football game while following NCAA guidelines.”
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Brown’s report also includes an update concerning the company compensating players for the use of their likeness, an issue that led to a class-action lawsuit that halted production of the “NCAA Football” series in 2013. With the NCAA no longer allowed to govern student-athlete compensation thanks to NIL deals, Brown reported there’s hope that EA Sports will be able to use the players in the game, and would still launch the title if they are unable to use likenesses.
“I’m told there is optimism that the framework for a college football player video game group license could be announced as early as this summer,” he wrote. “There was some hope it could have happened even earlier, but some shakeups in the college group license industry has made things a teensy bit more complicated. I’m told that when the framework of an agreement is announced, the licensing agent won’t have anywhere close to every college football player, but will hope to sign the rest up after securing rights for a critical mass of athletes.”
In regards to the participating programs, the most recent memo noted “nearly 120 institutions, athletic conferences and bowl games” have “conceptually approved participation.” Currently, EA Sports is still working to obtain IP such as “band songs, crowd chants, and other team-specific audio assets” related to development.
Nevertheless, these latest updates will surely give fans something to look forward to over the next year while waiting for EA Sports’ first CFB game since 2014.
