EA Sports College Football: Should Gamers Boycott the Game?

EA Sports College Football is set to release in 2024, but there have been few hiccups along the way. Earlier this week...

EA Sports College Football is set to release in 2024, but there have been few hiccups along the way.

Earlier this week, it was reported that the College Football Player's Association, along with VP Justin Falcinelli, urged players to boycott the upcoming game. The information comes from a report from Pete Nakos of On3 that states the payout for athletes would be around $5 million. This mean would mean the payout would be roughly 500 dollars per player.

The NCAA Division I Board of directors approved a name, image, and likeness policy back in 2021 in an attempt to help athletes earn a little extra. It seems, however, that the plan has backfired in a way they didn't expect.

EA Sports College Football will be EA Sports' first NCAA football game since NCAA 14 back in 2013. While the new game aims to have actual players from their respective schools, The CFBPA feels the athletes aren't getting what they deserve.

So what will this mean for EA Sports College Football? Let's discuss.

Will EA Sports College Football Still Have Real Players?

It doesn't seem like EA Sports College Football will just drop the idea of including player likeness and imagery due to a boycott. Many people want to buy the game because there's real players.

An argument could be made that College athletes already have enough, with their likeness in the game and some cash to boot. It's also fair to mention that many college athletes across all the schools earn scholarship offers to help them financially.

That being said, Falcinelli did mention he heard NFL players were receiving over 30x (At least $17,000) the amount of money for being in Madden NFL. Whether or not this is true, it does raise questions about EA Sports' budget.

Between FIFA and Madden NFL alone, EA Sports generates a lot of money solely from sales and Ultimate Team microtransactions. The company also earned 7.4 billion U.S. dollars last year. EA Sports is also dropping it's partnership with FIFA, which is sure to save them a lot of money. So there's fair points to both sides of the argument.

The CFBPA may be urging people to boycott, but what about the players themselves? Do athletes like Caleb Williams really care how much they receive?

Oklahoma QB General Booty shared his two cents on the matter. “That’s a tough one,” He said at the INFLCR NIL Summit. “We’ve actually been talking about that in the locker room. So, we’ve all talked about it because we want the game to come out, obviously. But we were saying if they come out and try to lowball and say we want to give everyone $200. Well, guys maybe like, like you mentioned Caleb Williams, may say no and then he’s not in the game. Then all the USC fans – who wants to buy the game and not play with him, you know?”

Booty makes a good point, though not having real players didn't stop people from buying NCAA games in the past.

Should I Boycott EA Sports College Football?

In the unlikelihood that an agreement is not figured out before the game's launch, it'll be up to gamers to decide what they should do.

Our recommendation: Play what you want to play and enjoy what you want to enjoy. As the great Michael Corleone once said “It's not personal, it's strictly business.”

We understand athletes (and their agents) want a piece of the pie, and that EA Sports wants to make as much money as possible. However, people shouldn't be discouraged from playing a game because of a financial matter.

Additionally, will players want to boycott a game they've been waiting over a decade for? Are most people even aware of the issue? And if they do are, do they care enough?

What we will say, though, is watch out for gameplay before buying the game. We're more concerned about EA Sports College Football being a carbon copy of Madden than anything else. What's the point of debating player likeness and imagery if the game is terrible? If the game is bad, and sales suffer because of that, then both sides will have lost.

Now, since it's the first EA Sports College Football Game since 2013, chances are it will sell well. College Football generates so much money and popularity that everyone is going to want to try it out. So it's important for EA to release a good game to retain its fanbase for years to come.

We hope for both sides to come to a compromise that works for everyone. As mentioned earlier, the game won't release until 2024, so there's plenty of time to resolve this issue.

For more information on EA Sports College Football, check out ClutchPoints Gaming.