College Football is coming back to a console near you

It has been 7.5 long years since the last NCAA football game was released and at long last it looks like the drought might finally be over:

The game has been kept alive since that last 2013 release with fan rosters and fan modifications to update texture models but it’s just not the same as an official release.

EA Sports is coming back to college football.

After last making a college football video game in 2013, the possibility of the game returning had been in limbo. Now, it isn’t. EA Sports vice president and general manager, Daryl Holt, told ESPN the game maker will be returning to the space with “EA Sports College Football.”

“As we look for the momentum that we’re building on in sports, it all starts with the passion of our fans and the opportunities of what they are interested in,” Holt said. “I don’t think a visit where I go outside wearing a piece of EA Sports branded apparel, that someone doesn’t go, ‘Hey, when is college football coming back?’”

Expect it to be a bit different than what you played last time but with ever-evolving debate around paying college players for their likeness EA stands prepared to adapt to whatever comes whether it be the NCAA, Congress, or both:

For now, EA Sports is planning to move forward without rosters that include the names, images or likenesses of real college players. Current NCAA rules prohibit athletes from selling their NIL rights while in college.

However, those rules are likely to be changed at some point in the coming year — either by the NCAA, state legislatures or Congress. It’s not yet clear if the evolving rules will allow for the kind of group licensing arrangements that would be needed for EA Sports to negotiate with athletes to use their names in the game.

I can’t speak for anyone but myself but I’m really excited about this even though we likely won’t see anything until 2022. So stock up on a PS5 or a Series X, pick up the sticks and #GoNoles.