Almost two full years ago, EA Sports revealed its plans to revive its college football series. The publisher and developer announced that NCAA Football would be returning, albeit with a different name: EA Sports College Football. Since then, all has been quiet on EA’s end, but there does to be some clarity now about when football fans can expect the franchise to return. Unfortunately, it appears to be later than originally anticipated.
EA Sports officially confirmed that the return of its college football franchise will now come in the summer of 2024, a year later than originally anticipated. The news was confirmed by Daryl Holt, the vice president and general manager of EA Sports.
During an interview with ESPN, Holt stated that the wait is due to the “enormous undertaking of creating the game from scratch.” The 2024 release, per EA, will allow for the development team to release a game that is up to football fans’ expectations and build an immersive experience.
Holt added that previously reported release dates were nothing more than rumors and speculation. There was talk in 2021 that EA Sports College Football was slated for a 2023 release date, but that will obviously not happen. Part of that delay is also due to EA now attempting to add player names and likenesses in the inaugural title of the reboot. Name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals were not firmly in place at the time of EA Sports College Football’s initial announcement, but now are commonplace.
The announcement shouldn’t come to much of a shock. EA Sports has been relatively quiet about the title since revealing its plans early in 2021 to bring the franchise back.
The last simulation college football game released by EA came back in 2013, with NCAA Football 14.
