After releasing three entries in its EA Sports College Football series on PC and consoles and one on mobile, the franchise is reportedly in danger of cancellation. According to Insider Gaming’s Mike Straw, multiple sources have expressed doubt about the future of the College Football games. While this doesn’t mean EA will immediately stop development on upcoming games, the sources claim there may not be new entries after the next five years.
Despite strong sales since its 2024 revival with EA Sports College Football 25, there has been a noticeable decline. While that first entry went toe-to-toe with the year’s heavy hitters like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, more recent entries haven’t topped the charts in the same way. This sales decline could indicate a gradual decline in consumer interest.
“We’re not FC. We’re not Madden,” said one of the sources. “We don’t make the money they do, and everyone knows it.. But it’s at the point where if we don’t find a way to keep players around and, in turn, make more, we won’t have anything.
“Forget in 10 years; I’m scared about if we have a game by the end of the decade. Games aren’t getting cheaper to make, and there’s the real concern with all of us that EA’s going to streamline and just have a few key franchises and dump everything else.”
That’s in addition to the money that EA pays for its College Football games, which is also substantial. The report noted that the company paid over $600 to each real-world athlete who appeared in College Football 25, bringing total costs to somewhere between $7 million and $7.5 million just for the players. These costs have only risen over time, with EA Sports College Football 27 resulting in the company paying each player $1,500, bringing the total cost for athletes up to just under $20 million.
While EA undoubtedly recoups that quickly with its sports games, the company is also likely paying attention to the other development costs. Among other things, universities, stadiums, and other IP also tend to be involved in a typical College Football game, which brings total costs much higher.
The publisher is also allegedly looking for more ways to monetize its College Football games. With one source noting that “Ultimate Team flopped for us” after missing internal revenue expectations, there is also an expectation that similar monetization systems might return in single-player modes in future games.
EA tried doing this with College Football 27. However, the company saw plenty of backlash from players and ultimately relented, removing the microtransaction options from the single-player modes. At the time, EA said that the microtransactions were intended to offer players “more choice” that would be “independent of deeper mode progression”, ultimately admitting it “missed the mark”.
For more details, take a look at our review of EA Sports College Football 27.
