EA Sports made an announcement on Tuesday that many video game enthusiasts have been waiting years for, and the internet reacted exactly how you might expect.
After years of hiatus due to licensing and compensation issues, college football is returning to EA Sports. The game will be called “EA Sports College Football” rather than “NCAA Football,” but there will be some sort of college football game in the near future.
For those who never stopped believing…#EASPORTSCollegeFootball pic.twitter.com/2vDUYnbXEJ
— EA SPORTS (@EASPORTS) February 2, 2021
There has not been a new version of “NCAA Football” since “NCAA Football 14” was released in the Summer of 2013. Former Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson was on the cover.
Twitter went ballistic after EA Sports dropped the news:
https://t.co/Sg3vXFz2lQ pic.twitter.com/NU6VCbVIGu
— BroBible (@BroBible) February 2, 2021
@EASPORTS https://t.co/s0GJlR4VPR
— Erin Andrews (@ErinAndrews) February 2, 2021
NCAA FOOTBALL IS BACK pic.twitter.com/LQm3ZPMZzu
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) February 2, 2021
I CAN'T FEEL MY FACE
— Adam Kramer (@KegsnEggs) February 2, 2021
Mission accomplished @CollegeGameDay pic.twitter.com/pVz8YxQVzv
— ESPN (@espn) February 2, 2021
Can I run the option with @TouchdownTommie like last time?? https://t.co/NzT1tcIo9v
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 2, 2021
Did someone say NCAA Football is coming back?! pic.twitter.com/kuuYdc7eUf
— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) February 2, 2021
NCAA Football coming back ???
MOOD: pic.twitter.com/qjee42HYpB
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) February 2, 2021
— Mike Clay (@MikeClayNFL) February 2, 2021
EA Sports vice president and general manager Daryl Holt told ESPN’s Michael Rothstein that the plan is to move forward with rosters that do not include the the names, images or likenesses of real college players.
The NCAA is in the process of changing its amateurism rules regarding athletes profiting off their name, image and likeness. A case is expected to be heard later this year, and CBS reported last month that the goal is to enact legislation in 2021. Holt says EA Sports will be prepared to adapt to that.
“We’ll just keep tabs on everything as it develops and we’ll be ready,” he 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.”
The game will feature over 100 college teams. EA Sports partnered with collegiate licensing company CLC to secure the rights to FBS schools, traditions, uniforms and more.
If you want to know how popular the “NCAA Football” series was, just look at the way some schools have used it as a recruiting tool. To say that gamers and college football fans are ecstatic would be an understatement.
