EA Sports has been one of the leading companies in creating sports video games for years and they will look to continue their growth as they bring back college football. The addition of Name, Image and Likeness deals across college sports has made the process easier for EA to manage in the past. Now, EA has provided some additional information on the upcoming release of their game.
According to recent Open Record Request from Extra Points with Matt Brown, EA’s proposal for the game says “EA’s aim is to release a stand-alone college football game in July of 2023, allowing for the two-year game development window necessary for collecting game assets and developing gameplay to meet the current market demands for a unique college football game while following NCAA guidelines.”
One of the hardest parts of creating a college sports game is managing to pay each player since there is not currently a player’s union to create overarching deals. Despite the complications, Brown wrote that “there is optimism that the framework for a college football player video game group license could be announced as early as this summer,”
Although it is unlikely that EA is unable to secure player likenesses, EA is preparing for the situation and Brown writes that “the video game is still scheduled to publish, but it will not include every single FBS program.”
The Name, Image and Likeness deals have cleared a path for the return of college sports to the video game community, and EA Sports looks to be the first company to capitalize and bring college football back to video game fans.