A few months back, EA Sports announced that the 2014 installment of its wildly popular college football franchise wouldn't carry the NCAA label after the governing body chose not to renew its licensing contract. Today, the gaming outfit has announced that there will not be a campus-packed release... at all. Admitting that the choice was "profoundly disappointing," GM of American Football for EA Sports Cam Weber cited lawsuits with student-athletes over the use of their likeness without compensation as a cause for the decision. Of course, this is compounded by the NCAA and a number of conferences (Big Ten, SEC and Pac-12 included) no longer supporting the 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," Weber wrote in a blog post. EA also pledged a commitment to NCAA Football 14 that's already in consoles of the faithful where, no matter what, Johnny Football is still celebrating the same way.
Update: Moments after EA posted the above news, the company announced that it and the CLC (Collegiate Licensing Company) had settled "all claims" with Sam Keller and Ed O'Bannon for using their names and more. This leaves the NCAA as the remaining defendant in the lawsuit over use of player likenesses. For more on the filing, consult the coverage links that follows.
Filed under: Gaming
Comments
Source: Electronic Arts
Back in July, a judge approved a $60 million settlement between Electronic Arts and a number of college athletes over the use of their likeness in games. Athletes with a valid claim, all 24,819 of them, will finally get their share of the settlement....
Oh, March Madness. The time of year when productivity takes a nose dive as sports fans follow along to see who will win the office pool. NCAA March Madness Live is the home for all your streaming needs when it comes to the tournament, and this year t...
EA Sports revived the official NCAA Football Facebook page this morning after one-and-a-half years of silence, posting a four-second video of a heart monitor and the caption, "Our heart still beats for the big game... #NationalChampionship." Fans won...
The original Vert was all about the jumping. But it was also very accurate about the jumping. The wearable is getting a 2016 refresh, with an expanded repertoire of metrics that not only includes the frequency of intense movements (sensors are accele...
EA is no stranger to issues with the NCAA, and this time FIFA 16 women's rosters are the culprit. The gaming studio announced today that following an NCAA notice, it would remove 13 players from the game that are currently on or "likely" to be on c...
