The NCAA is Investigating Whether or Not It’s Time to Bring NCAA Football Back

[bh446066]

As long as we are wishing for things...let’s hope it comes back without EA getting the exclusive license

[illwill10]

Quote: Originally Posted by bh446066

As long as we are wishing for things...let’s hope it comes back without EA getting the exclusive license

Only thing is I don't see many studios who are going to want to jump into the college football market. With license, engine, and development costs, I only see big AAA companys being willing to take on this task and costs. The main three are EA, 2k, and Sony. As I said many times before, I don't 2k interested in college market because they have shown they will scrap a series if it doesn't meet expectations. Sony is a wild card. The 989 Sports Gamebreaker series was decent from what I remember. But the Sony Studio in San Diego main priority has been MLB The Show just like 2k sports is NBA 2k. The last non baseball title the Sony sports studios has produced was NBA 10: The Inside. Thats the one thing I try to be aware of when critiquing Madden/EA. With the Show and NBA2k, they are the companies highest(only) priority. SIE San Diego Studio, pretty much has been only developing MLB The Show for last decade(outside of a few other games). 2k sports just down to NBA(and Playgrounds), WWE(which hasn't been well regarded) and I think Golf Club. So, the situations are alot smoother there. Whereas, Fifa is the flagship title of EA Sports and the fact Madden has had to share resources with Live past 3-4 years. I'm not giving them any excuses, I'm just saying the other major sports title have an easier situation.

The fear is that NCAA would turn into Madden as far as bugs and direction. Most hope they improve on from NCAA 14 and that it can immediately return to the level they were at.

I'm optimistic, but the whole 18 months from this October we could see a new game thing isn't as realistic as we hope. It's not that it should take that long to develop since they wouldn't bw building code and game from scratch. I'm sure They could use code from NCAA 14 and a lot of modern code from Madden to help speed up process. But the whole 18 month thing only applies if the approved ruling changes gets applied immediately. Unless I'm wrong, the October deadline is for the working group to have the report where they going to decide whether to allow the changes. I doubt that report will come with proposed rule changes. So will most likely go through a lengthy process trying to find a middle ground. Even then, any proposed changes are rarely implemented immediately. So it could be the next season or following season, before those rules are implemented. So we could be talking earliest could be 2021-22 and between 23-24 season. It won't be until then NCAA considers selling the license. Then EA(or any company) has to sit down with NCAA to come up with an approved way to compensate players, get player likenesses, developing game(which I doubt they will try to do in one year if they get license). So it is likely we won't see a new game for 4-6 years instead of the 2 years we all hope

[canes21]

Quote: Originally Posted by illwill10

I agree. The whole random roster thing would have been better originally. Especially these lawsuits started popping up. Even with random rosters, schools are still afraid of litigation. At the very least, I'm sure they would want no roster share. But I'm sure EA would want to bring back the series. But also has to wonder if it is worth it. Only was selling 2 million copies a year at most. The licensing costs and development costs alone will cost a lot. Plus I don't know if it as simple as using Madden code for game engine and building off of NCAA 14. I don't think real players and coaches actually push the needle. It'll help for the NCAA. More exposure and recruiting, but I don't think it raises sells. They would need a very popular online mode at the least. The whole Anti Loot box bill, could affect things

I think that if EA can bring the series back and have Ultimate Team return with it and they are able to get people to dip into it as much it would make the series more profitable than ever before. They had the mode in '14, but that was just around the beginning for it all. Now with how popular MUT and FUT are I could see them bringing the mode back with this series and getting people to spend millions also. There is a larger pool of former players to select from. A lot of licenses to potentially acquire for guys that didn't pan out in the NFL and don't fit MUT. Jamarcus Russel, Ken Dorsey, Ryan Leaf, etc. If they can get people to double dip, buy Madden and NCAA, spend money in both Ultimate Teams, then they will be raking in the cash between both games like never before.


I think that an Ultimate Team mode that would bring them in millions post-launch would be the best thing to hope for if we ever want to see the series return. I don't see EA being too interested if the game is going to be lacking an Ultimate Team mode. The series was never the most profitable and the worries would outweigh any small profits. Having random rosters, small worries about litigation, and expecting huge profits thanks to Ultimate Team would probably make them lean a lot more towards bringing it back sooner rather than later.

[illwill10]

Quote: Originally Posted by canes21

I think that if EA can bring the series back and have Ultimate Team return with it and they are able to get people to dip into it as much it would make the series more profitable than ever before. They had the mode in '14, but that was just around the beginning for it all. Now with how popular MUT and FUT are I could see them bringing the mode back with this series and getting people to spend millions also. There is a larger pool of former players to select from. A lot of licenses to potentially acquire for guys that didn't pan out in the NFL and don't fit MUT. Jamarcus Russel, Ken Dorsey, Ryan Leaf, etc. If they can get people to double dip, buy Madden and NCAA, spend money in both Ultimate Teams, then they will be raking in the cash between both games like never before. I think that an Ultimate Team mode that would bring them in millions post-launch would be the best thing to hope for if we ever want to see the series return. I don't see EA being too interested if the game is going to be lacking an Ultimate Team mode. The series was never the most profitable and the worries would outweigh any small profits. Having random rosters, small worries about litigation, and expecting huge profits thanks to Ultimate Team would probably make them lean a lot more towards bringing it back sooner rather than later.

I do feel like Ultimate Team could really help. Like you said, if they could get the rights to past college legends, it can really add tons of revenue. I don't play UT, I understand the allure. Imagine getting a Florida Tebow or 88' OKU Barry Sanders or Texas Vince Young or USC Reggie Bush. Those would really sell well.

My thing is the Anti Loot bill situation. It would affect the whole UT/micro transaction sections. Companies now makes tons of revenue off of MT. So if they couldn't do it or have to change how they approach it, it could have a ripple affect. Games like 2k, makes so off of VC purchases. Since people want to be competitive online asap and starting off at 60 OVR, people are willing to spend that $40-50 to get to 85 OVR. Also tons from MyTeam. That would really effect 2k if they lose that avenue since they just signed 7 years 1.1 billion for license. Where now they could pay that with money from MT alone, so if they lose that it would change things.
NCAA doesn't really need UT like so other games do. What would really help NCAA and Madden, is shorter online game modes. People don't want to spend 30 minutes games online all the time and at same time don't want shorter quarters if they want a sim experience. That's what really helps 2k. A lot of Park and neighborhood events can last only 5-15 minutes. That is the ideal number for most gamers online. They want to get as many games in as little as possible. So NCAA and Madden could add smaller game modes. Like practice drills, combine events, using career mode players online. I don't play online, but I can see the fun in it. Imagine competing in rushing attack where opponent controls opposite team trying to keep your score low. Or doing the Oklahoma drill online. I think quick online game modes would help bring people in

[canes21]

I see where you are coming from, but I don't know if the mini-camp drill competitions would draw too many players. I just can't see too many wanting to hop on and play a few Oklahoma Drills before bed. I could see maybe if EA did a mode that was just pitting people together in OT situations or OT like situations. A mode where it is like penalty shots in hockey, but with OT possessions instead.



I personally believe that Ultimate Team is our best friend with regards to bring NCAA football back if all other factors like the schools consenting to be included were taken care of. NCAA was never profitable. If all of a sudden EA has the ability to release another football game and potentially double their revenue from football games simply by having another Ultimate Team mode then the suits are going to be very interested. Like you said, someone opening some packs and gathering a team together that had Tim Tebow as QB, Barry Sanders as RB, AJ Green at WR, plus other guys that weren't too hot in the NFL, but were studs in college would give it the same allure of MUT, but with collegiate aspects.



If these proposed actions against micro-transactions do ever pass and modes like MUT are deeply threatened, I could see how that could benefit and also hurt the return of NCAA football. 1) that would be a ton of revenue for EA to lose between FUT, HUT, and MUT. They may be interested in putting resources back into NCAA to make some extra profit. 2) if the suits were really interested in an NCAA UT and the laws passed killing that possibility they may not want to put any resources into reviving the series when the profits wouldn't be sky high. It'll be interesting to see. For now I will just remain in belief that Ultimate Team is potentially our best friend with regards to getting another NCAA game.

[illwill10]

Quote: Originally Posted by canes21

I see where you are coming from, but I don't know if the mini-camp drill competitions would draw too many players. I just can't see too many wanting to hop on and play a few Oklahoma Drills before bed. I could see maybe if EA did a mode that was just pitting people together in OT situations or OT like situations. A mode where it is like penalty shots in hockey, but with OT possessions instead. I personally believe that Ultimate Team is our best friend with regards to bring NCAA football back if all other factors like the schools consenting to be included were taken care of. NCAA was never profitable. If all of a sudden EA has the ability to release another football game and potentially double their revenue from football games simply by having another Ultimate Team mode then the suits are going to be very interested. Like you said, someone opening some packs and gathering a team together that had Tim Tebow as QB, Barry Sanders as RB, AJ Green at WR, plus other guys that weren't too hot in the NFL, but were studs in college would give it the same allure of MUT, but with collegiate aspects. If these proposed actions against micro-transactions do ever pass and modes like MUT are deeply threatened, I could see how that could benefit and also hurt the return of NCAA football. 1) that would be a ton of revenue for EA to lose between FUT, HUT, and MUT. They may be interested in putting resources back into NCAA to make some extra profit. 2) if the suits were really interested in an NCAA UT and the laws passed killing that possibility they may not want to put any resources into reviving the series when the profits wouldn't be sky high. It'll be interesting to see. For now I will just remain in belief that Ultimate Team is potentially our best friend with regards to getting another NCAA game.

I agree that wouldn't draw in many people. My thing was just that Football(both) needs to come up with shorter fun online modes that will bring in more gamers. It is not as easy for Football to have those quick fast online games without sacrificing on realism like Basketball can.
I do see the pool of gamers UT can bring in for NCAA. Especially if they bring in college legends. But the Anti Loot box bill does raise a concern. First, I very much doubt it would be the end of Ultimate Team and micro transactions. They would need to eliminate all chance when it comes pulling cards and try to eliminate the advantage gain from MT. It would be smart for companies to start adjusting how they approach the whole MT situation. Where they would still bring in revenue if they adjust it. But no way near as much. When you eliminate all chance and pay to win, people aren't going to spend as much extra money because they will know what to expect. Companies can't be care less enough to maintain status quo like EA with NILs. Once the lawsuits started popping up, it should have clicked to them that they should have changed their approach with default rosters. But no, they probably thought nothing would come from it and they can continue on.

[ndfan1993]

I just think we are looking at this with rose colored glasses. The fact is the game didn't sell GREAT overall and what % of those people that purchased it would even be interesting in spending more on ultimate team transactions? EA knew what they were doing and got away with it as long as possible. Casual fans wanted to download rosters and go online and play for a couple months before Madden came out and trade it in.

[illwill10]

Quote: Originally Posted by ndfan1993

I just think we are looking at this with rose colored glasses. The fact is the game didn't sell GREAT overall and what % of those people that purchased it would even be interesting in spending more on ultimate team transactions? EA knew what they were doing and got away with it as long as possible. Casual fans wanted to download rosters and go online and play for a couple months before Madden came out and trade it in.

I do agree that NCAA series is more of a cult favorite. Where a lot of people felt towards the end, NCAA was a better product than Madden. But in reality, it wasn't selling more than 2 million copies and wasn't as profitable. I don't think other companies was fighting over the exclusive license since I believe Gamebreaker was the last licensed Non-EA game. They stopped in 2003. So, I think only a company like EA is our only choice because they could afford to not expect huge sales and take whatever extra revenue they could get. I do agree that many people bought NCAA just for their football fix until Madden and also wanted to import their draft classes and RTG.

The reality is that college sports games were never as profitable we thought. Companies dropped college sports quick because they weren't selling well. College Football is the main sport that is marketable enough now to consider making a game. But I don't see NIL pushing the needle for casual gamers. Unless you have those transcendent marketable players. The casual fan wont know many names