The Future of College Football Gaming: NCAA Football 25 and Beyond
After a decade-long hiatus, EA Sports' College Football series made a triumphant return, captivating a passionate fanbase eager to immerse themselves in the world of virtual college football. College Football 25 exceeded the company’s expectations and became the most widely played sports video game of all time with more than 1.7 billion streams of the game. While the initial release set a solid foundation, the developers are already hard at work, driven by community feedback and a desire to innovate, to ensure the franchise's continued success and evolution. This article explores the advancements and future possibilities of the NCAA Football game, with a focus on potential features like high school teams inclusion, and the game's commitment to authenticity and immersive gameplay.
Building on a Strong Foundation
Developers were aware of this as Evan Dexter, vice president of brand strategy and marketing for American football at EA Sports, noted the team “had to make sure that the sophomore season wasn't going to be anything less than a breakout rookie season.” College Football 25 successfully captured the essence of college football, emphasizing the traditions, pageantry, and atmosphere that make each FBS school unique. EA Sports senior vice president Daryl Holt told USA TODAY Sports“It's an influential piece of college sports to have this game back”. This commitment to authenticity, from fight songs and stadium environments to play styles, resonated with fans and fueled the desire for even greater depth and customization in future installments. With an open policy for assets, Holt said EA Sports got a plethora of requests from schools asking if they could get their traditions in the game after seeing how many were in the 2024 edition. Sean O’Brien, EA Sports vice president of business development, added there were many instances of school employees “running around campus, the stadium” to take photos and videos of their institution so those specific details could be added.
The Allure of High School Teams
One exciting possibility for the future of the game is the inclusion of high school teams. The popular NCAA 14 “Dynasty” mode was simple enough. Recruit top players to build up your program and then play the game and compete for national championships. Imagine starting as a high school coach, building a program from the ground up, and guiding your players through the ranks to college stardom. This feature would add a new layer of depth to the Dynasty mode, allowing players to experience the full spectrum of a football player's journey.
NIL and the Transfer Portal: Mimicking Real-Life Decisions
The game has incorporated elements that reflect the modern realities of college football, such as Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals and the transfer portal. Staples used the example of Penn State starting quarterback Drew Allar appearing in the portal while there, similar to the move now-Syracuse QB Kyle McCord made to leave Ohio State after last season. Staples used the example of Penn State starting quarterback Drew Allar appearing in the portal while there, similar to the move now-Syracuse QB Kyle McCord made to leave Ohio State after last season. “Brand building” is how Staples described NIL, saying the bigger you build your program, the more resources you will have at your disposal. “Their thought was, ‘We’ve got a game that’s got to last us a year here.’ Let us incorporate brand building,” Staples said. “That’s really what stands in for NIL, from the coach perspective. … You do have to think about that from a team perspective. Do you have the brand? “Are you meeting with guys about their NIL deals or do you have guys hitting you up for bigger NIL deals? NIL then translates over to the transfer portal, where players will have to decide how resources are allocated. “It mimics the real-life decision that coaches have to make about ‘How much do I devote resources to recruiting high school players? How much do I devote resources to getting guys out of the transfer portal?’,” Staples said. “You might lose your starting quarterback to the transfer portal or you might be able to get an upgrade out of the transfer portal. These features force players to make strategic decisions about resource allocation, mirroring the challenges faced by real-life coaches.
Real Coaches and Enhanced Realism
What’s also helped in CFB 26 is the addition of real-life coaches, joining what O’Brien said is more than 11,000 players in the game. He said there was overwhelming support from coaches to be included in the game, and they’ve realized their inclusion is a recruiting tool; by seeing how their schemes, style and success, it could draw younger gamers to one day want to actually play for them. The inclusion of real-life coaches further enhances the game's authenticity and provides a valuable recruiting tool for universities. Sean O’Brien feels confident those not part of it and future coaches will want to be included. He noted the “FOMO (fear of missing out) is real.” As technology advances, future iterations of the game could feature even more accurate player likenesses and stadium designs, potentially allowing players to create their own stadiums. Holt said about every 10 years, a paradigm shift happens in sports video games where there are substantial upgrades in how they operate. That shift is approaching soon, and he believes it’s going to result in some big changes. He noted among the enhancements could be more accurate player likeness and improvements in stadium building, which could one day lead to allowing players to make their own stadiums.
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Addressing Fan Feedback and Continuous Improvement
Even with the favorable reviews and solid additions, there’s still part of the fanbase that aren’t exactly thrilled with the new game. Whether it’s uniforms, game mechanics or game mode features, it speaks to how critical its audience can be. EA Sports understands how much criticism it gets, and they actually enjoy hearing it. Dexter calls it “incredible problems” to have with a dedicated group of players that want so much more added. The critiques help mold the game and aid the plan in how to advance the series. EA Sports is committed to addressing fan feedback and continuously improving the game. Production director Christian McLeod previously told USA TODAY Sports there was a heavy emphasis on community feedback to shape the game, and it resulted in a “really strong response” this year, Dexter said. This includes addressing concerns about uniforms, game mechanics, and game mode features. By actively listening to its audience, EA Sports aims to create a game that truly reflects the passion and expectations of college football fans.
Royalties and Player Compensation
Electronic Arts has devised a new method of paying universities for the usage of their names, images and likenesses in the new game, and it ties royalties directly to how often the teams are used in game play. The new royalties structure was revealed in documents obtained by cllct via Freedom of Information Act requests and confirmed by multiple schools. Beginning with this new edition released in July, all 136 FBS schools that opted into the game will be compensated by their popularity with gamers. One document states, “For each CFB product released by EA SPORTS, we (CLC Learfield) will provide a percentage for each institution based on the games played for that institution as a percentage of the total games played across all institutions. This percentage of games played will become the final allocation percentage for each school that will be applied to the total gross royalties for all institutions received.” Player compensation also more than doubled for the new edition. EA Sports College Football 25 paid each athlete who opted into last year’s game $600 plus a free copy of the game. This year, a new partner emerged for player NIL management. EA Sports told The Athletic in January that it had no news on changes to player compensation, but in February Pathway Sports & Entertainment began procuring video game name, image and likeness rights of players, and paying them $1,500. Additionally, EA then upped each player's royalty to $1,500, telling The Athletic that Pathway’s actions had no effect on their own decisions. Though, this now means some players will receive $3,000 for their inclusion in the game, $1,500 from EA and $1,500 from Pathway. Electronic Arts has implemented a new royalty structure that ties university compensation to how often their teams are used in the game. Player compensation has also increased significantly, with some players receiving up to $3,000 for their inclusion.
Dynasty Mode and Gameplay Experience
With its return comes the big question of what has returned from NCAA Football 14 for those that are familiar with the series, which is that all of the big modes have returned. You have the Road to Glory career mode, Dynasty, and Ultimate Team for multiplayer and a card-collecting, team-building challenge mode. They also have a makeshift season mode about getting a team to the new College Football Playoffs by just playing a series of games without much management needed. Road to Glory brings back the classic style of career mode from most of the “recent” editions of the series with a much better player creator that has many more options. The gameplay itself is still a lot of fun in spite of the simulation’s desire to undermine that at every turn. There is just a simple joy to be had when this game is working well that is hard to deny. Defense is also fun when things are going well, though I feel like the way the game is supposed to switch to the closest player to the ball during the play doesn’t work as often as it’s supposed to work. College Football 25 offers a variety of game modes, including the classic Road to Glory career mode, Dynasty, and Ultimate Team. Despite some complaints about simulation and menu presentation, the gameplay itself is enjoyable, with top-notch in-game presentation and school-specific intros.
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tags: #ncaa #football #25 #high #school #teams
