Peter Moore on NCAA Football, "We'll Be Back"

[RaychelSnr]

NCAA Football is always going to have a bit of speculation around when/if/maybe someday it will return.

In an interview with IGN, EA Chief Competition Officer Peter Moore added his voice to the chorus of speculation with a rather optimistic tone.

Check out the quotes from the interview compiled by Polygon's Owen Good:

Quote:

“NCAA Football became the lightning rod for bigger issues regarding college athletes getting paid for their performance, not only in football but all college sports,” said Moore, who was EA Sports president from 2007 to 2011. “And their likeness. It was a sad day when we realized, ‘We are in the sights of a number of lawsuits.’ A number of athletes which were all combined eventually into one singular suit and said, ‘That’s me.’ When your lawyers’ fees are more than the revenue you can expect to get in. "It was an unclear future for us,” Moore said. “It was a really sad day and we said, ‘We just can’t do this anymore.’ And one day I know we’ll be back.

Currently there's still no traction for a game to actually make a comeback since the lawsuit's settlement checks are still going out.

As we've reported in the past, NCAA Football will only make a comeback when the legal structures of the NCAA change to allow players to be paid. A game with generic rosters would still not be a legally viable option and most likely several schools would balk at such an effort anyways -- thus it's unlikely anything but a fully licensed game with real players on real teams will be shipped. EA will almost certainly not pursue a college game of any kind unless there is a zero percent chance of a lawsuit.

So while we appreciate Moore's optimism, it does look like we're still in a holding pattern waiting on the NCAA to do something right.

In other words, the world may look like this before a NCAA Football game ships again.

[Pocono29]

IMV GAMING is looking to make a college football game. Check them out on Twitter if you haven't heard of them.

[tessl]

They are worried about lawsuits and I don't blame them. I believe generic rosters would sell a lot of copies because 5 years into a franchise every roster is generic.

[snc237]

Quote: Originally Posted by tessl

They are worried about lawsuits and I don't blame them. I believe generic rosters would sell a lot of copies because 5 years into a franchise every roster is generic.

It's one thing to have generic rosters. It's another not to have licenced schools

[YEARofTHEcardinal]

I'd be fine with random rosters like MVP NCAA Baseball had, as long as all the teams are there

[Kodos]

Moore talks about NCAA Football starting at 56:13 in the video.

[jwilphl]

I'm curious as to why you say "a game with generic rosters would still not be a legally viable option..." If there is no player-likeness concern, a player cannot then claim, "you are using my likeness without my consent." I agree that EA specifically may not want to pursue a game with fake players (they'll claim that authenticity matters) but that's not the same as EA failing to pursue it because of concerns over liability.

I think we are at least five years away from another game, if it ever did return. The NCAA will never allow players to be paid. They've relented a bit on additional stipends for living costs, but that is as far as the NCAA will ever go. The organization will have to collapse in on itself before that ever changes. If for whatever reason EA refuses to make another game until players are able to paid/commercialized, then we simply won't see another NCAA licensed football game again.

I think the bigger concern is in regards to further conference and school autonomy. It was easier to license the bulk of the schools in the past because they all operated under one essential umbrella. Granted the rising cost of the NCAA license was a concern, largely why 2K dropped out of the market altogether, but in the present and into the future, any game developer will have to negotiate terms with a much larger number of organizations. It remains to be seen how willing all those separate schools and conferences are to get back into this field, even if it means additional revenue.

I think a game with generic rosters would be fine; I personally never bought the game for the players. However, a game with generic teams would likely never cover the cost of doing business. There simply isn't much appealing about a game with ~130 no-name schools. Even with editors out the wazoo, I just couldn't see a game in that nature selling.

[Junior Moe]

Beautiful! I have always felt that we'd see college games again. Either after the lawsuits are settled. Or, once a model (generic players, legends, whatever...) is in play that allows EA, the NCAA and member schools to make a game without fear of lawsuits. I mean, the NCAA and schools are totally free to license and make money. 2K is doing it with NBA. Just blow it out with the NCAA and the member schools. Make the players completely, completely generic, although realistic (Alabama could be a powerhouse pro style team) without any overlap to a real players, number, height, race, handedness or anything. In fact, go out of the way to avoid it. Capture everything else true to life though. Stadiums, teams, history maybe even coaches if their licensing can be secured. Slap the modified Madden engine in that baby and lets roll!