EA Sports College Football has been under much scrutiny since being sued over NIL payments to student athletes who are appearing in their game. Despite this, and EA's recent track record of game development, the game is still set to release in Summer 2024, according to sources.

In case you don't know EA Sports is being sued by the Bandr group regarding NIL payments to student athletes. According to them, the total payout is roughly $5 million dollars, which equates to $500 per player. Additionally, players won't receive any royalties from the success of the game.

The College Football Players Association then urged players to boycott the game. Whether or not players are going to boycott a game they've been waiting over 10 years for, there still stands a lawsuit in EA's path.

Before 2021, college athletes could not profit from their image, likeness, and name. Former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon, along with 19 others sued the NCAA for violating anti-trust laws for not allowing players to do so. After losing the lawsuit to O'Bannon, the NCAA halted college football video game production.

But it seems that lawsuit has not affected the game's development, including its release date.

EA Sports College Football Still Set To Launch in Summer of 2024

An EA Spokesperson told ON3 that the game's development remains unaffected by the lawsuits or NIL controversy. The Sports video game tycoon is in no danger of cancelling their game, or moving forward without real athletes and personalities:

“We're incredibly excited to bring back an authentic college football experience for fans and athletes that have shown such passion for the franchise, and we're looking forward to delivering it in Summer 2024,”

The news comes shortly after EA CEO Andrew Wilson confirmed the game's development was going smoothly:

“Gameplay is really coming together, and really capturing all the action of pageantry, and the difference in college football versus the NFL,” said Wilson. “I feel really confident in what the team’s doing.”

A big gameplay feature many fans are excited to see is the return of Dynasty, a fan-favorite career mode. NCAA 14's Dynasty Mode was extremely in-depth. Players could scout for new talent, climb up the AP rankings, and even make commitments or promises to up and coming recruits. With next-gen systems, we wonder what crazy things could be accomplished with the mode now. Hopefully they avoid the typical mistakes seen in EA Sports titles.

Wilson also mentioned that the licensing talks are continuing as normal and that solutions are on the horizon. “We’re working through the licence situation broadly – as of now, we’ve got many if not most of the schools licensed as part of our licensing platform.”

It's true. Athletes from over 120 FBS schools committed to being in the game. Additionally, the CFP as well as all 10 FBS conferences are confirmed to be in there as well.

Reaction To EA Sports College Football Game Development

For EA, this is a major win. It seems The Bandr Group's lawsuit may not hold as much water as they thought. But it also raises questions on how much College Athletes will actually earn from being in the game.

While the two sides continue to negotiate, most fans just want to see some gameplay at this point. We also feel that a resolution to the issue is slowly but surely approaching. In the meantime, fans can be happy knowing the game won't be getting delayed any time soon.

In other news, EA Sports' Madden NFL 24 comes out next week. EA Sports FC 24 comes out a month after.

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