Will College Football 26 Be on PC? Explained

[sherrane]

Quote: Originally Posted by UtahUtes32

If I followed his post correctly, I think he meant the same thing I did: The desire for a modded game isn't to add the missing players that didn't sign the NIL deal with EA Sports to be put into the game. I've seen some fan sentiment that no PC version will exist because of the possibility for modding to add missing players that didn't opt-in to be in the game. While I'm not a lawyer, I don't see that as an issue, otherwise why would Madden and Fifa be brought to PC? Madden & Fifa have similar licensing agreements for players, teams and leagues. PC modding added missing teams and players to Fifa and eFootball, but those games were still released on PC without hesitancy.

Madden and CFB25 are not at all similar for players. Madden licenses players through the NFLPA who grants EA the right to use their likeness provided they are in the union whereas CFB25 is optional participation where the player grants EA permission to use their likeness. That is a significant difference. It is understandable that EA will proceed carefully in this regard since they have a legal judgement against them for using non-NIL players.

[UtahUtes32]

Quote: Originally Posted by sherrane

Madden and CFB25 are not at all similar for players. Madden licenses players through the NFLPA who grants EA the right to use their likeness provided they are in the union whereas CFB25 is optional participation where the player grants EA permission to use their likeness. That is a significant difference. It is understandable that EA will proceed carefully in this regard since they have a legal judgement against them for using non-NIL players.

Correct me if I'm wrong here:


NFLPA - Players must sign (opt-in) into this agreement which allows their name and likeness to be profited. Look up Marvin Harrison NFLPA drama for reference. This is separate from their NFL contract with their team.



CFB25 - EA has a deal with with OneTeam Partners who is running a group/collective. FBS players that "opt-in" sign a name image and likeness deal with OneTeam Partners, which allows OneTeam Partners to then contract with 3rd parties (EA) to make $$ from likeness deals.


What's the big difference?

[sherrane]

Quote: Originally Posted by UtahUtes32

Correct me if I'm wrong here: NFLPA - Players must sign (opt-in) into this agreement which allows their name and likeness to be profited. Look up Marvin Harrison NFLPA drama for reference. This is separate from their NFL contract with their team. CFB25 - EA has a deal with with OneTeam Partners who is running a group/collective. FBS players that "opt-in" sign a name image and likeness deal with OneTeam Partners, which allows OneTeam Partners to then contract with 3rd parties (EA) to make $$ from likeness deals. What's the big difference?

I believe you are wrong about Madden. Players who are members of the NFLPA appear in Madden through a deal EA has with the NFLPA; the NFLPA gets the money and generally uses it to provide services for retired players. So while EA pays to use those players, the players themselves don’t directly see it. Now, NFL players are not obligated to join the NFLPA. I remember John Elway was not part of the NFLPA and the old NFL Challenge video game (text based game that ran on DOS during the 286 / 386 processor days) had the starting QB for Denver as John Yawle. I'm sure that had a lot of people confused LOL.


I don't think the NFL players really care that much. The $600 fee that is paid to the college players is literally chump change even for players making the league minimum. That the fee paid to the NFLPA is going to help former players who need it, which one day might be themself. It is a completely different environment and deal.


Another factor is that the college game wasn't available for at least the last 10 years EA produced NCAA College Football. They have generally resisted this in the past and given the sales of 25, there is not much incentive to spend the time and effort to port it to the PC. They would need to see there are a significant amount of people who would buy a PC game and won't buy a gaming console version. I just don't see that, especially since they are much more open modding which could trigger another lawsuit. I expect to see them proceed with caution.