With the continued success of the Madden series, gamers might be forgiven for thinking there is only room for one Football video game series. Yet despite not being produced since 2013, a new poll by ESPN has made it clear that NCAA Football remains a much-loved franchise, and one that fans really want to play again.
The Twitter poll offered gamers a choice of well-remembered games, including NFL 2K, NBA Street, Fight Night, SSX, and MLB Slugfest. However, NCAA Football was the clear winner, with fans sharing their love for the franchise in droves. While legal issues around the game mean a new entry is unlikely in the near future, opportunities such as the California Fair Pay to Play Act may improve the odds in the longer-term. After all, former Chief Competition Officer at EA, Peter Moore, has been quoted as saying "One day, I know [the NCAA Football franchise will] be back."
According to Sports Illustrated, there remain issues with image rights that need to be solved before another title could be made. Specifically, the players are not allowed to make money from their names while using University name or imagery. In addition, NCAA athletes do not have a collective bargaining agent, and may require a license structure to be created through an act of congress. It just so happens that discussion on some aspects of student athletes' name, image, and likeness rights are taking place now, but whether they will fix the issues required for a new NCAAÂ Football video game is unknown.
Players with a deep knowledge of football games may not be surprised by the poll result, given that used copies of the last NCAA Football title still sell for decent sums of money, and many dedicated gamers continue to play the game on their PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles. The game even has fans who take the time to provide updates to player rosters via mods.
With so much fan support, it is perhaps surprising that a new NCAA Football game is yet to emerge. The legal issues around likenesses and compensation will not be easy to solve, but given the gigantic amounts of money that EA, the NCAA, and Universities could stand to make, it is likely that all parties involved will eventually work something out. The NCAA has already detailed the criteria it needs to be met before the game series could be brought back.
In the meantime, fans of the series will have to continue playing their old copies of NCAA 14, or enjoy the latest Madden as an alternative while they wait.