During the Electronic Arts Q4 2025 Earnings Conference Call on Tuesday, the EA SPORTS College Football franchise was highlighted several times, namely for the success of CFB 25. The majority of game-related discussion centered on the financial success of the title and company, though one quote did hint at something eventually coming to CFB & Madden. Courtesy EA CEO and Chairman of the Board Andrew Wilson's prepared remarks: "Looking ahead, our deeper integration between Madden NFL and College Football is setting the stage for a unified massive online community."

What could this 'unified massive online community' be? Some in the community have speculated that it would be an open world experience similar to that found in NBA 2K.

Last fall, EA SPORTS President Cam Weber presented a look ahead of an open world technology that could be coming to EA SPORTS FC and to the American Football franchises 'in the years ahead.' However, the idea presented fell flat among the reddit/NCAAFBSeries community.

Continue on to see each relevant mention of EA CFB during the conference call. ...

Journalist Ben Baskin and his 'Lost in Sports' podcast has devoted an episode to NCAA Football, focusing on the success of the franchise and also what led to its ultimate end.

The 40 minute show features clips from former dev team members Jeff Luhr and Dan Baker, as well as Sam Keller and Sonny Vaccaro, whose lawsuits targeted EA Sports claiming improper use of player likenesses.

Show description: For years, EA Sports produced an extremely popular, and extremely accurate, college football video game— with all the NCAA teams, stadiums, mascots, traditions, and, yes, the actual players. And then it was gone, leaving its cult fanbase enraged and fighting to keep the game alive. Ben explores the NCAA Football video game series, how it was made, why it went away, and how its loss exposed what it really means to be a college athlete.

Follow the link to listen to the show. ...

Via Twitter, EA has announced that EA Play Live will take place on Thursday, July 22, 2021. This is a month later than EA Play's normal timeframe of mid-June.

It is expected that this event will showcase upcoming titles and perhaps some reveals. At this time, EA has not shared an itinerary or schedule of games to be presented.

What games should fans expect to see at EA Play Live? The following slide from Electronic Art's Q4 FY 2021 results provides a potential starting point. (Note the disclaimer of 'announced' fiscal year 22 titles.) Continue on to read more. ...

EA SPORTS has officially announced that EA SPORTS College Football is in development, marking the studio's return to college football gaming after the NCAA Football franchise's cancellation in 2013.

ESPN has some of the first information regarding the franchise's eventual return: "[EA Sports vice president and general manager Daryl] Holt said there is not a date on when the game will return or even a date when the return will be announced other than it won't be coming back for this year."

The company has been working with the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) to attain rights to the FBS schools, traditions, uniforms, and playbooks. As of the article's publishing, over 100 schools are planned for inclusion in the game. Until name, image, and likeness (NIL) licensing is resolved by the NCAA, the game will go ahead without real player rosters. Holt added that the current focus for the title will be on the "FBS Division I schools and the road to the College Football Playoff and college football championship." ...

As part of Court Justice: The Inside Story of My Battle Against the NCAA by Ed O'Bannon and Michael McCann, O'Bannon fires back at what he calls a ridiculous claim: that he is to blame for the end of college sports video games and namely the NCAA Football franchise.

"But the video game comment was the one that I got the most. To be honest, it kind of caught me off guard since it was so wrong and so ridiculous. Yes, it’s true that Electronic Arts stopped publishing college sports games after we led my lawsuit, but let’s think about the facts for a moment. ...

"If the NCAA had let EA pay us, all of you gamers out there would have your college sports games. So don’t blame me. Blame the NCAA for refusing to change its rules in the face of basic common sense, not to mention consumer demand."

It is worth nothing that under terms of the settlement, EA did not admit any wrongdoing. However, O'Bannon claims in this excerpt that EA "knew that it had used players’ images and likenesses without their permission."

Click here to read a larger excerpt of the book and how O'Bannon believes college sports video games could return to consoles. ...

On the July 12, 2017 edition of The Bottom Line with Mike'l Severe, former Arizona State and Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller was asked about his lawsuit versus EA SPORTS and the NCAA which proved to the death knell - along with the Ed O'Bannon lawsuit - for the NCAA Football franchise in fall 2013.

When asked by Severe if he accomplished what he hoped to as part of the lawsuit, Keller responded "...I think we did. I enjoyed it and really got behind the principle of why." He went on to add that "My small part of it kind of brought some things to light and kicked things in motion, but it was a small part of a bigger, bigger battle. I think we shed some light on some things and definitely accomplished what we set out to do, but again it wasn't to be a world-changing thing."

The questions regarding the lawsuit were very topical given they came during the same week NCAA Football would have typically been released. However, one has to wonder what was truly accomplished given the debate over 'should players be paid; is a free education enough' (as Keller asks in the interview) have not been seriously answered or addressed by the NCAA, conferences, or member institutions. ...

EA Play 2017 will take place June 10-12 from Hollywood, California. At this event, fans will learn about upcoming titles such as Star Wars Battlefront II, the next Need for Speed title, Madden NFL 18, EA SPORTS FIFA 18, and NBA LIVE 18.

EA Play began in 2016 when the company, Electronic Arts, decided to hold their own event around the same timeframe as the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). This change allowed them to standout from the gluttony of gaming news that emerged at once, while also giving them more freedom (or control, depending on your point of view) for presentations, media & public access, etc.

If you plan on being in the area, tickets will be available beginning April 20. EA plans to announce details on the ticketing process relatively soon. As an aside, E3 takes place just days later, June 13-15 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Continue on to read the first information on EA Play straight from EA SPORTS. ...

With the Nintendo Switch now publicly detailed and heading towards its March 3 release date, for those in the sports gaming community the focus has shifted towards game options, both short & long-term.

During the Nintendo Switch Presentation and subsequent release of console and game information, only two sports titles for the console were announced: EA SPORTS FIFA and NBA 2K18. Both are scheduled for a fall 2017 release with 2K18 detailed for a September release.

During the life-cycle of both the Nintendo Wii and Wii U, 3rd party titles were lacking, specifically in the sports realm. While EA SPORTS began making titles for the Wii, they were often considered lacking features, if not watered down ports of the console version(s).

While there is some speculation that EA SPORTS FIFA on the Switch will be built off of the PS3/360 versions of the title (speculation EA denies, by the way), NBA 2K18 will reportedly include many of the same features as the PS4/XB1 version: MyPLAYER, MyCAREER, MyTEAM, MyLEAGUE, and MyGM. ...

This time of year is always hard for the die-hard NCAA Football fans. Typically the game would be releasing in the next few weeks and by now, impressions & videos would be coming out of the woodwork making the wait even harder. However, with the absence of NCAA, EA is using this window to talk about the upcoming Madden NFL 17 due out in a couple of months. As part of that, Madden's Creative Director, Rex Dickson was doing an interview at E3. As part of that, the question was asked about the return of NCAA Football.

Continue below to hear his answer. ...