Latest Matt Brown Interview 10/11/2023

[Cam Fan]

Check out his latest tidbits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXm_6fPwE2o

[KSUowls]

Listened to this while working, and it was pretty interesting.

The tldl version;

This guy gets his information from a combination of open records requests from public institutions and contacts at EA.

-Only schools participating in the FBS in 2024 will be in the game (no FCS)

-Most FBS schools have signed on, but there are a few stragglers. Those stragglers are still participating in development (sending audio assets to EA, responding to emails, etc).

-The plan right now is for every scholarship player for 2024 (85 players per team * 134 teams) will be in the game. EA is partnering with One Team Partners (they also administer the group license for the Madden franchise). There would be a unified contract for all players (standard practice for sports games, EA can't individually negotiate 10,000 deals, regardless of some players having more marketability). Players would still have to opt in individually though, so there is a high likelihood that some players may forget to do the paperwork or something like that.

-*Not official* but a ballpark figure for player reimbursement would be $500-$1200 each. No contract is in place yet though.

-Armed services academies players might not be in the game due to NIL rules with federal employees.

-Don't expect any major game announcements from EA until very close to an actual launch (falling in line with other sports titles).

-*rumor* kind of implied that NIL would be a feature in recruiting, but not at liberty to discuss. (that's what I inferred from his statement anyway).

-EA says that Dynasty is the flagship mode

-Recruiting will not be like NCAA 14. Recruiting focus is on realism (how does CFB look today). NIL (in some capacity) and transfer portal. "They want players to feel connected and excited about recruits who they will be able to play with the next season"

-Will not be released on last Gen or Nintendo Switch. PC TBD.

-Presentation: ESPN has a contract with EA for this game. College gameday crew has done audio for the game (Herbstriet and Davis and some others, no knowledge on Corso).

-Don't expect face scans of 13k college players.

-Unsure if head coaches will be in the game.

-0% of the code from the last CFB game is useable. So the whole thing is being rebuilt.

-Design leads are diehard CFB fans and realize that you can't just make a carbon copy of Madden because there is too much difference between NFL and college. (question related to concerns that the new game will be a Madden clone).

-EA is trying to license music like Enter Sandman for Virginia Tech and others. But might not be financially feasible.

-EA does not expected to sell more than 25% of what Madden does (important note for anyone thinking we will see major NIL payouts to players).

-No knowledge on team builder

-EA is asking for a ton of information from universities including: every angle of the stadium and background (Brand new 3d render of every stadium), pictures of fans, mascots, game day presentation (pregame songs, audio on 3rd down, chants from the student section)

-Focus on rivalry games, presentation.

[TripleCrown9]

He's also been sharing assets that teams sent in on Twitter. So far it's mainly been audio assets, but he did show Colorado's helmets and the uniform stuff that Kennesaw State sent in.

[Speedy]

I hope to heaven all of that is true and it's not another Cyberpunk (smoke and mirrors).

[tessl]

No information on teambuilder. Disappointing.

Recruiting will not be like NCAA 14. Instead it will focus on realism. What does that mean?

IRL schools hold high school camps which are in effect similar to the NFL combine where they assess the players who attend with various drills. Is that in the game? I thought NCAA 14 had the best recruiting of the series. I'm curious what changes they plan to make.

[KSUowls]

Quote: Originally Posted by tessl

No information on teambuilder. Disappointing. Recruiting will not be like NCAA 14. Instead it will focus on realism. What does that mean? IRL schools hold high school camps which are in effect similar to the NFL combine where they assess the players who attend with various drills. Is that in the game? I thought NCAA 14 had the best recruiting of the series. I'm curious what changes they plan to make.

He said that basically the way that you contact recruits will be different than how it was done in NCAA 14. I'm guessing it just meant that it will go beyond simply allocating X points to a prospect. Aside from that the only solid details were that the transfer portal would be a big part of the game and NIL would be implemented in some way.

[TarHeelPhenom]

Quote: Originally Posted by KSUowls

Listened to this while working, and it was pretty interesting. The tldl version; This guy gets his information from a combination of open records requests from public institutions and contacts at EA. -Only schools participating in the FBS in 2024 will be in the game (no FCS) -Most FBS schools have signed on, but there are a few stragglers. Those stragglers are still participating in development (sending audio assets to EA, responding to emails, etc). -The plan right now is for every scholarship player for 2024 (85 players per team * 134 teams) will be in the game. EA is partnering with One Team Partners (they also administer the group license for the Madden franchise). There would be a unified contract for all players (standard practice for sports games, EA can't individually negotiate 10,000 deals, regardless of some players having more marketability). Players would still have to opt in individually though, so there is a high likelihood that some players may forget to do the paperwork or something like that. -*Not official* but a ballpark figure for player reimbursement would be $500-$1200 each. No contract is in place yet though. -Armed services academies players might not be in the game due to NIL rules with federal employees. -Don't expect any major game announcements from EA until very close to an actual launch (falling in line with other sports titles). -*rumor* kind of implied that NIL would be a feature in recruiting, but not at liberty to discuss. (that's what I inferred from his statement anyway). -EA says that Dynasty is the flagship mode -Recruiting will not be like NCAA 14. Recruiting focus is on realism (how does CFB look today). NIL (in some capacity) and transfer portal. "They want players to feel connected and excited about recruits who they will be able to play with the next season" -Will not be released on last Gen or Nintendo Switch. PC TBD. -Presentation: ESPN has a contract with EA for this game. College gameday crew has done audio for the game (Herbstriet and Davis and some others, no knowledge on Corso). -Don't expect face scans of 13k college players. -Unsure if head coaches will be in the game. -0% of the code from the last CFB game is useable. So the whole thing is being rebuilt. -Design leads are diehard CFB fans and realize that you can't just make a carbon copy of Madden because there is too much difference between NFL and college. (question related to concerns that the new game will be a Madden clone). -EA is trying to license music like Enter Sandman for Virginia Tech and others. But might not be financially feasible. -EA does not expected to sell more than 25% of what Madden does (important note for anyone thinking we will see major NIL payouts to players). -No knowledge on team builder -EA is asking for a ton of information from universities including: every angle of the stadium and background (Brand new 3d render of every stadium), pictures of fans, mascots, game day presentation (pregame songs, audio on 3rd down, chants from the student section) -Focus on rivalry games, presentation.

"0% of the code from the last CFB game is useable."

I love to hear that the game is being built from the ground up.

[tessl]

Quote: Originally Posted by KSUowls

He said that basically the way that you contact recruits will be different than how it was done in NCAA 14. I'm guessing it just meant that it will go beyond simply allocating X points to a prospect. Aside from that the only solid details were that the transfer portal would be a big part of the game and NIL would be implemented in some way.

That's interesting. There is a lot that could be done with this game. The downside is for reasons I don't understand the college game doesn't sell as good as Madden and for that reason they probably don't assign as many developers.

Looking forward to what the game looks like.