EA Sports College Football delayed to 2024, says report

EA Sports College Football Two letters posted Tuesday morning by a sports journalist confirming that the company will not launch in 2023 like many expected, indicate that it will instead be launched in 2024.

The communications — a note from the Collegiate Licensing Company to its clients, and a draft news release from Electronic Arts confirming a 2024 launch window — were first reported by Matt BrownThe D1 Ticker college sport newsletter network.

Polygon reached out to representatives from Electronic Arts for comments. A launch date and window were not specified by the publisher. EA Sports College Football When it revealed the first project in February 2021.

“While many expected 2023, EA Sports explains that this is necessary to ensure that their development team can build the best college game possible with the detail and the gameplay they are known for delivering to fans,” the CLC’s note said. Brown said the letter was sent to member universities’ athletic departments late Monday evening.

The CLC said it “hope[s] to be able to share the plan for athlete opt-ins very soon,” meaning the use of real-life college football players, under their names, images, and likenesses, and being paid for it. These so-called NIL agreements were made by the NCAA to allow college athletes to participate in these deals without risking or losing eligibility.

EA Sports announced that the college football series would be returning in the spring of 2009. However, it stated that real players wouldn’t play. Later that summer, after the NCAA’s new policy on NIL compensation, EA said it would “explore the possibility” of including real players.

In the draft news release that Brown obtained, EA said it was “working to include college athletes in a meaningful way in the game, extending our commitment to authenticity as we create a level of college football immersion like never before.”

The rest of the draft news release highlighted the numerous “team runouts, mascots, cheerleaders, uniforms, historic school items, and more,” that are coming to EA Sports College Football. “Plus, the [development] team has been able to plug into onsite broadcast audio feeds for the first time, allowing them to capture live gameday crowd audio, and have started recording some of the most recognizable commentators in the sport for use in-game.”

The publisher concluded the draft announcement by saying, “EA Sports College Football will launch in Summer 2024.

“Building a game like this from the ground up is complex, and we want to get it right for you,” EA said.

Developing…