NCAA Football 14 released on July 9, 2013, on the XBox 360 and PlayStation 3 video game consoles. Unbeknownst to fans of the game, this would be the final installment to date in the franchise that began in 1993 as Bill Walsh College Football. The franchise’s cancellation left a large hole in sports gaming community making the Madden franchise the only new football-related sports video game. Each year during July and August there are messages on message boards asking if there will be a new NCAA game. To date, there hasn’t been an answer on if there will ever be another game, but there must be a new one at some point.
EA Sports published NCAA Football every year from 1993 to 2013. The game was meant to simulate a college football season similar to how Madden is intended to simulate the pro game. However, the simulation caused the problems in the first place. To simulate college football, the game had to be hyperrealistic, which meant having licensing for college football teams, stadiums, mascots and other necessary elements like players. However, NCAA Football couldn’t have the players in the game because of the NCAA’s unwillingness to pay its players.
The issue of payment arises when the players are near or exact replicas in the game. According to a study done by SB Nation after the release of NCAA 2014, 124 of the 126 top virtual players on each team played the exact position as their real-life counterpart. 122 of the players had the same height, and all 126 have accurate home states. In 2009, a former Nebraska student-athlete sued EA Sports for the use of player likeness. This lawsuit, O’Bannon v. NCAA, is what set the groundwork for what ultimately ended operations in the game. Former UCLA student-athlete Ed O’Bannon sued the NCAA for its usage of player’s images for commercial purposes. This lawsuit ended the video game because EA Sports and the NCAA did not want to have to deal with more lawsuits for continuing the usage of likeness.
The NCAA game has not seen a new edition since 2013, and each year it seems the likelihood of a new game gets slimmer and slimmer. However, here are a couple of possible good signs through EA Sports.
In this year’s version of Madden, Madden NFL 18, the game uses the likeness of the Texas Longhorns in its Longshot series. Furthermore, other companies want to create college football video games. For example, iMackulate Vision Gaming is attempting to develop a college football-like video game called Gridiron Champions. The game’s idea is eerily similar to the NCAA series, minus one thing – no actual teams. Every school in the game would be generic and created by the creators of the game. The lack of real schools will inevitably turn some off from the game, but Gridiron Champions, if successful, has built-in customization that will give individuals the ability to edit a team to make real schools since there is no legal issue with an individual customization. The game is currently still trying to accumulate money to begin creation.
The options may be few, and the likelihood of a game exactly as we know it may be doubtful. It’s up to some corporation to bring the game back. Whether it is iMackulate Vision Gaming or EA Sports, the fan base has waited long enough for a new rendition of the beloved NCAA franchise. A new game is needed and wanted, and someone needs to bring it.
Miles Jordan is a 20-year-old liberal arts sophomore from New Orleans, Louisiana.
