• No College Football Game From EA SPORTS in 2014, Future to be Assessed

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    JBHuskers
    Published on 09-26-2013 03:16 PM
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    This afternoon, Cam Weber (GM of American Football at EA SPORTS) announced that the company will not publish a college football title in 2014 and that the future of the franchise is in doubt. Weber stated that the company being caught in the dispute between the NCAA and student-athletes along with the NCAA & several conferences withdrawing support led to the decision. He also added that EA SPORTS is working to settle lawsuits with the student-athletes.

    Later in the day it was announced that EA SPORTS had settled a series of class-action lawsuits. It is believed that the settlement will affect between 200,000 and 300,000 current and former college players. Terms of the settlement are confidential pending a court filing. From CBS Sports: The settlement affects lawsuits brought by former Rutgers quarterback Ryan Hart, former Nebraska and Arizona State quarterback Sam Keller and former UCLA basketball star O'Bannon. The settlement does not include the NCAA's ongoing battle with O'Bannon and other plaintiffs in the fight over the rights to player likenesses.

    Continue on to read the full press release from Weber & EA SPORTS.

    Today I am sad to announce that we will not be publishing a new college football game next year, and we are evaluating our plan for the future of the franchise. This is as profoundly disappointing to the people who make this game as I expect it will be for the millions who enjoy playing it each year. I’d like to explain a couple of the factors that brought us to this decision.

    We have been stuck in the middle of a dispute between the NCAA and student-athletes who seek compensation for playing college football. Just like companies that broadcast college games and those that provide equipment and apparel, we follow rules that are set by the NCAA – but those rules are being challenged by some student-athletes. For our part, we are working to settle the lawsuits with the student-athletes. Meanwhile, the NCAA and a number of conferences have withdrawn their support of our game. The ongoing legal issues combined with increased questions surrounding schools and conferences have left us in a difficult position – one that challenges our ability to deliver an authentic sports experience, which is the very foundation of EA SPORTS games.

    At EA SPORTS, college football has always been a labor of love, and it is unfortunate that these business and legal issues have impacted our ability to make next year’s game. This franchise has been developed by a team that is deeply committed to the tradition and culture of this sport – that’s why fans have always loved it. We are working to retain the talented people who are part of the team by placing them elsewhere within the EA SPORTS organization.

    In the meantime, we will continue to be connected and engaged with our fans who are playing EA SPORTS NCAA Football. Our decision does not affect our commitment to NCAA Football 14 and the consumers who love playing the game.
    1. Categories:
    2. EA SPORTS,
    3. NCAA Football 14
    Tags: ea sports
    Comments 223 Comments
    1. SCClassof93's Avatar
      SCClassof93 - 10-03-2013, 02:16 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by GatorfanStovy View Post
      Nice video ! I wouldn't mind going and trying to collect each of the NCAA football games from xbox to 360 from then to know. Most of them are probably pretty cheap.
    1. SCClassof93's Avatar
      SCClassof93 - 10-03-2013, 02:17 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by ram29jackson View Post
      is nice yes but I expecting something more of a personal highlight montage from Gschwendt or something similar
      Contagion???
    1. PeteyKirch's Avatar
      PeteyKirch - 10-03-2013, 02:46 PM
      Please tell me that Ben Haumiller wasn't retained in any fashion at EA.

      If anyone deserved to get a pink slip it was him.
    1. ram29jackson's Avatar
      ram29jackson - 10-03-2013, 02:50 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by PeteyKirch View Post
      Please tell me that Ben Haumiller wasn't retained in any fashion at EA.

      If anyone deserved to get a pink slip it was him.
      ...fascinating...just fascinating...but he is from New Jersey.

      Dude, you are 25 years old. Are you seriously that stupid ?
    1. cdj's Avatar
      cdj - 10-03-2013, 03:02 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by PeteyKirch View Post
      Please tell me that Ben Haumiller wasn't retained in any fashion at EA.

      If anyone deserved to get a pink slip it was him.
      I don't think he has publicly announced his fate following the NCAA wipeout.

      I understand that Ben is (was? ) the face of the NCAA franchise so he is going to face some undue criticism, but I would say that there is no one who wanted the game to be great more than him and any issues (especially legacy) drove him crazy as much as us, if not more. Also, Ben was the primary guy we corresponded with anytime we had questions, needed clarification, sent on feedback, etc. He has always been more than willing to respond and try to help out, including e-mailing back at all hours of the day, when on vacation, during E3, etc. He did a lot to help the NCAA franchise & community, more than John Q. Public realizes. I can definitely understand game frustrations, but he shouldn't be the fall guy.
    1. steelerfan's Avatar
      steelerfan - 10-03-2013, 03:06 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by cdj View Post
      I don't think he has publicly announced his fate following the NCAA wipeout.

      I understand that Ben is (was? ) the face of the NCAA franchise so he is going to face some undue criticism, but I would say that there is no one who wanted the game to be great more than him and any issues (especially legacy) drove him crazy as much as us, if not more. Also, Ben was the primary guy we corresponded with anytime we had questions, needed clarification, sent on feedback, etc. He has always been more than willing to respond and try to help out, including e-mailing back at all hours of the day, when on vacation, during E3, etc. He did a lot to help the NCAA franchise & community, more than John Q. Public realizes. I can definitely understand game frustrations, but he shouldn't be the fall guy.
      Every word is correct. Thank you for putting that out there Chris. Ben is a standup guy and he cared tremendously for the series. I, for one, wish him the best in whatever he does next.
    1. souljahbill's Avatar
      souljahbill - 10-03-2013, 04:55 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by CLW View Post
      Nice Tribute video guys:

      All this game needs in generic named (and numbered) rosters with no roster share and it's good. Make everything about a kid editable about a player BUT his name and it'll still sell if it has all the teams/conferences/bowls etc. as I think most people are fans of a school moreso than fans of players.
    1. morsdraconis's Avatar
      morsdraconis - 10-03-2013, 05:04 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by steelerfan View Post
      Every word is correct. Thank you for putting that out there Chris. Ben is a standup guy and he cared tremendously for the series. I, for one, wish him the best in whatever he does next.
      Truthfully, I felt bad for those guys most of the time. It seemed like sometimes they were just in over their heads with some of these things. They know what people want and they would try their damnedest to make it happen on the console, but working with the scraps that they were left with made it SO damn difficult not to have a piece of shit experience most of the time because of a piss poor engine.
    1. PeteyKirch's Avatar
      PeteyKirch - 10-03-2013, 05:34 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by ram29jackson View Post
      ...fascinating...just fascinating...but he is from New Jersey.

      Dude, you are 25 years old. Are you seriously that stupid ?
      Why? Because the man refused to man up when issues that plagued the series that was his "baby" popped up year after year he appeared dumbfounded and would change the subject to something like LOOK 3D GRASS, or WIND SOCKS!
    1. PeteyKirch's Avatar
      PeteyKirch - 10-03-2013, 05:35 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by cdj View Post
      I don't think he has publicly announced his fate following the NCAA wipeout.

      I understand that Ben is (was? ) the face of the NCAA franchise so he is going to face some undue criticism, but I would say that there is no one who wanted the game to be great more than him and any issues (especially legacy) drove him crazy as much as us, if not more. Also, Ben was the primary guy we corresponded with anytime we had questions, needed clarification, sent on feedback, etc. He has always been more than willing to respond and try to help out, including e-mailing back at all hours of the day, when on vacation, during E3, etc. He did a lot to help the NCAA franchise & community, more than John Q. Public realizes. I can definitely understand game frustrations, but he shouldn't be the fall guy.
      When you're the "face" you're the fall guy.

      It's not always fair, but that tends to be how the system works.
    1. morsdraconis's Avatar
      morsdraconis - 10-03-2013, 05:37 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by PeteyKirch View Post
      Why? Because the man refused to man up when issues that plagued the series that was his "baby" popped up year after year he appeared dumbfounded and would change the subject to something like LOOK 3D GRASS, or WIND SOCKS!
      Bringing up shit from 4 or 5 games ago is meaningless. The team that worked on NCAA made HUGE strides in trying to bring back what made the PS2 era of their games amazing. Unfortunately, it was constantly plagued by bugs because of a poor engine and a console generation that just wasn't able to handle 22 fully rendered human skeletons on the screen at once all attempting to obey the laws of physics while colliding into each other.
    1. ram29jackson's Avatar
      ram29jackson - 10-03-2013, 06:24 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by PeteyKirch View Post
      Why? Because the man refused to man up when issues that plagued the series that was his "baby" popped up year after year he appeared dumbfounded and would change the subject to something like LOOK 3D GRASS, or WIND SOCKS!
      you don't have any critical thinking skills to speak of at all.
    1. CLW's Avatar
      CLW - 10-03-2013, 07:15 PM
      Look Ben was the "face" of the game to the community so he takes allot of heat. I dunno what his work on the actual game included but after the debacle one year he was practically the only guy that would do interviews and come out here and there and tell us about the game. Its not like he was the only person responsible for the game/series shortcomings.

      I've NEVER met the guy but he comes across as a decent enough guy that really loves college football and video games.

      I suspect many years he toed the company line and spat out the "talking points memo" on "wind socks" etc.... when he knew their were other things that should been addressed instead.

      I also suspect he probably is unemployed at this time so it could be a long time before he is able to catch on somewhere else.
    1. bdoughty's Avatar
      bdoughty - 10-03-2013, 07:26 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by ram29jackson View Post
      you don't have any critical thinking skills to speak of at all.
    1. steelerfan's Avatar
      steelerfan - 10-03-2013, 08:53 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by CLW View Post
      I also suspect he probably is unemployed at this time
      I don't.
    1. JBHuskers's Avatar
      JBHuskers - 10-03-2013, 10:13 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by cdj View Post
      I don't think he has publicly announced his fate following the NCAA wipeout.

      I understand that Ben is (was? ) the face of the NCAA franchise so he is going to face some undue criticism, but I would say that there is no one who wanted the game to be great more than him and any issues (especially legacy) drove him crazy as much as us, if not more. Also, Ben was the primary guy we corresponded with anytime we had questions, needed clarification, sent on feedback, etc. He has always been more than willing to respond and try to help out, including e-mailing back at all hours of the day, when on vacation, during E3, etc. He did a lot to help the NCAA franchise & community, more than John Q. Public realizes. I can definitely understand game frustrations, but he shouldn't be the fall guy.
      Quote Originally Posted by steelerfan View Post
      Every word is correct. Thank you for putting that out there Chris. Ben is a standup guy and he cared tremendously for the series. I, for one, wish him the best in whatever he does next.
      Exactly.

      Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 4
    1. jaymo76's Avatar
      jaymo76 - 10-04-2013, 08:03 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by cdj View Post
      I don't think he has publicly announced his fate following the NCAA wipeout.

      I understand that Ben is (was? ) the face of the NCAA franchise so he is going to face some undue criticism, but I would say that there is no one who wanted the game to be great more than him and any issues (especially legacy) drove him crazy as much as us, if not more. Also, Ben was the primary guy we corresponded with anytime we had questions, needed clarification, sent on feedback, etc. He has always been more than willing to respond and try to help out, including e-mailing back at all hours of the day, when on vacation, during E3, etc. He did a lot to help the NCAA franchise & community, more than John Q. Public realizes. I can definitely understand game frustrations, but he shouldn't be the fall guy.
      I didn't always agree with the NCAA decisions but in no way do I condone people taking shots at these guys now that they are out of work. These people have families and bills to pay just like the rest of us. I wish them all the best and hope they land on their feet.
    1. SCClassof93's Avatar
      SCClassof93 - 10-04-2013, 08:14 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by jaymo76 View Post
      I didn't always agree with the NCAA decisions but in no way do I condone people taking shots at these guys now that they are out of work. These people have families and bills to pay just like the rest of us. I wish them all the best and hope they land on their feet.
    1. Jayrah's Avatar
      Jayrah - 10-04-2013, 10:39 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by jaymo76 View Post
      I didn't always agree with the NCAA decisions but in no way do I condone people taking shots at these guys now that they are out of work. These people have families and bills to pay just like the rest of us. I wish them all the best and hope they land on their feet.
      Well said Jay.
    1. cdj's Avatar
      cdj - 10-05-2013, 11:33 AM
      Polygon: Lawyers never intended for EA to stop making NCAA Football games

      According to Aragon, there's no language in the settlement agreement that prevents EA from continuing to develop and publish college football games. In fact, said Aragon, "There's really nothing about future name, image or likeness use [in the agreement].

      "There's nothing stopping [EA] from making the game, so long as they don't use players' names, images or likenesses. Or [they could] pay the students, which they didn't really agree to," said Aragon.
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