EA announced a partnership with CLC, a collegiate trademark licensing company, to bring back an old favorite with EA Sports College Football.
“We’ve heard from the millions of passionate fans requesting the return of college football video games,” said Cam Weber, EA SPORTS EVP and GM. “We love the energy, tradition and pageantry of college football and I am beyond thrilled to say we are back in development. We have a lot of really exciting work ahead of us, and a great team that is eager to bring a new game to players in the next couple of years.”
The hit college football simulation series was forced to go out of production in 2014 over a long list of issues with the NCAA, but the biggest was an issue with a rule that college players could not be paid for their likeness — an obvious issue when the gaming franchise was rolling in dough each year after release.
The NCAA reversed course with a rule change in October 2019, so the news of a game franchise revival is not necessarily a surprise, but it’s an excising announcement nonetheless.
“We’re very excited to collaborate with EA SPORTS to bring back the college football franchise, one of the most popular collegiate licensed products in our history,” said Cory Moss, CLC CEO. “The college football video game connects passionate fans to college brands and introduces new fans to the storied traditions, excitement, and game day experience that make college football unique.”
The game is under development and a release date or window has not been confirmed.
“The new franchise will deliver authentic college football experiences and the high quality gameplay that fans have long loved in college football games from EA SPORTS. Through the CLC partnership, the franchise will include the rights to more than 100 institutions featuring the logos, stadiums, uniforms, gameday traditions and more that fans have come to know and love. While this college game will not include student-athlete names, images and likenesses, EA SPORTS is continuing to watch those developments closely,” developers said.
