It’s back (kind of)! In 2024, the college football community gets the return of a long-awaited video game. EA Sports College Football is set to be released as the latest version of the game this year, and an announcement with updates is believed to be coming during the national championship game.
EA Sports College Football Update
Details surrounding the game have been leaked here and there, so fans eagerly await the announcement. Is it a first look? What details will be included? Answers to that may not come abundantly, but we’ll see what EA has in store.
When the game was in its prime in the early 2000s, this was around the time we got sneak peeks at the game. A trailer like that would send the college football world into a frenzy during the final game of the season. It would be a fitting way to get fans excited about the return of one of the best video games ever.
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It has been a long wait for the game, and there have been plenty of bumps in the road. EA teased that the game would come back with a tweet in February of 2021, but went silent for a long time. There was also the BrandR Group lawsuit that has since been dropped, and fans have been put on an emotional roller coaster waiting for this game. Now, it feels closer than ever.
Anything EA provides beyond announcing the game’s arrival will build excitement. We may not know much, but we hopefully get more information Monday night. Let’s look at what we know already.
UPDATE: A rumored date of July 12th was floated around for the return of the game. Extra Points’ Matt Brown said no one at EA Sports would confirm the date, but that he heard it was their target date.
What We Know Already
As of February 15th, EA Sports updated their college account on X with a new profile picture and header. As the release date draws near, the excitement continues to build, but there’s still plenty of unknown thus far. Here’s what else we do know.
Other things we know:
- Real coaches won’t be in the game (at least for the first installment)
- NIL & Transfer Portal will be in the game
- You will not be able to create a player who chooses to not be in the game
- Only FBS teams will be in the first installment of the game
- Over 11,000 contracts are being sent out
- Each player will receive $600 and the game on their console as well
- The game will be completely different than Madden
- The Playoffs and realignment will be customizable
While many will feel nostalgic about the game’s return, there might be some hiccups even when the game comes out. In 2021, not every school had agreed to participate in the game. Since that time, however, the excitement surrounding the return might have swayed the rest.
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While only 118 schools were contacted originally, that number should be higher given how much the hype has grown. Even FCS schools and below stated their desire to be in the game, so we’d like to think that the number of participating schools is close to or exceeding 100%
Of course, there’s the player aspect of it, too. While it would be nice to assume that every player wants to be in the new game, that might not be the case. The BrandR lawsuit brought up a conversation in the college football community about players wanting to be in the game — even if they aren’t paid.
Some of the best game modes will return to the game too. Dynasty and Road to Glory are reported to return. Other modifications are expected to be released later in the year, and it would be a surprise if Ultimate Team wasn’t a part of those updates or even the original release.
While CFBRevamped has done an incredible job of bringing as many uniform combinations as possible to NCAA 14, they won’t be needed after this year (hopefully). EA Sports made an effort to focus on the details of the game and uniforms were one of those details.
Schools also submitted various aspects of their atmosphere to EA to incorporate into the game. From stadium spectacles to songs and sounds, teams are doing their part to make the game as real as possible.
While the game’s not officially back, the community remains hopeful that Monday night is just another step towards the game’s return. Any information would be great, but everyone’s hoping that EA gives them a little bit more to chew on until this summer.
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