College football will return to the virtual gridiron whenEA Sports College Footballlaunches in the summer of 2024, giving hardcore fans of the franchise their first release in 10 years. Significant differences in structure help make the college-focused game stand out from the NFL, and EA can leverageseveral modes inEA Sports College Footballto make its next release different enough fromMaddento shine as a must-buy for fans.
College football features several large conferences that operate as separate entities, with member schools playing a specific schedule with three non-conference games worked in. Some conferences are full of powerhouses, and others are comprised of relatively small schools that don’t produce as much hype, but every different conference provides the potential for unique experiences in a video game adaptation. A new playoff system for real college football is also rolling out in 2024, giving theEA Sports College Footballgamea chance to hit the ground running with this new format.
RELATED:Top Cover Athlete Candidates For EA Sports College Football
Road to Glory isEA Sports College Football’s"Be A Pro" mode, allowing players to live the life of a college athlete on and off the field. Players create their own character and are locked to their position throughout a college career, giving a lot more weight to any choice. After completing a high school career, the player selects from available scholarship offers and joins a Division 1 team, balancing school, fame, and team activities to develop their skills and achieve glory on the field.
Before theNCAA Footballseries was canceled,Road to Glory was arguably its centerpiece. The mode offered immersion that other modes in titles likeMaddenorNHLdid not, and leading a team to the National Championship while competing for the coveted Heisman Trophy gave every match and practice a level of importance that is hard to find in competing sports games. With new mechanics and a deeper off-field college experience, Road to Glory could once again stand out as the premier mode inEA Sports College Football.
EA Sports Should Let Players Build a College Football Dynasty
Tradition in college football helps it stand out among other sports. Rivalries span generations, with some existing over 100 years, and teams play for annual rivalry trophies like bells, pigs, jugs, axes, and shillelaghs. This aspect of college football makes theEA Sports College Footballversion of Franchise, known as “Dynasty,” one of the strongest fan-favorite modes in any sports game. The new game should continue this legacy, but find a way to harness an extra layer of management that the rise of the transfer portal has presented. Players would need to find ways to make their team members happy through honest commitments, or risk losing their trust and having them leave.
Online Dynasty lets players invite their friends to take part in a season, and EA Sports would miss out of it doesn’t bring thisback forEA Sports College Football in 2024.Groups of friends can construct a season where players control any team, or it can be set as limited to one conference per-players so that there are head-to-head matches almost every week. The Online Dynasty mode also includes recruiting, management, and development features from the standard Dynasty mode with the added benefit of friendly competition.Madden’sConnected Franchise often gets praise in this regard, butNCAA Football 14’s Online Dynasty was a true stand-out and should be included in the new game.
Taking Advantage of College Football’s New Playoff Format
College football recently approved a new 12-team playoff format that will begin with the 2024 season, soEA Sports College Footballhas a prime opportunity to capture this style immediately. More teams taking part in the playoffs than the current format of four teams should encourage players to use a wider range of competitors, as more than just a handful of teams will be equipped to make it into the playoff on the harder difficulties.EA Sports College Footballshould look to incorporate innovative presentation elements to highlight weekly rankings and celebrate big moves by teams or players,similar to whatMLB The Showdoeswith podcasts in its Road to the Show mode.
EA Sports College Footballis in development.
MORE:EA Sports College Football Should Feature the Best Players of the Last Decade
