Benzinga - by Chris Katje, Benzinga Staff Writer.
Video game company Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ:EA) announced in 2021 it was working on a college football video game, which excited many fans.
After several years and settled lawsuits, a college football video game is now months away from release.
What Happened: The owner of the popular EA Sports FC and Madden franchises, Electronic Arts is ready to add another sports video game to its annual releases.
The company shared an official teaser trailer for College Football 25 on Thursday, indicating it was bringing back the popular franchise this year. The video said a full trailer will come out in May with an official release of Summer 2024.
"You'll soon be able to lead your school to glory when EA Sports College Football 25 launches this summer. Yeah, it's really happening!" Electronic Arts said in a press release.
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Why It's Important: Electronic Arts offered an annual college football game for many years in the 2000s, selling tens of millions of copies and seeing the game regularly in the annual top 10 by unit sales charts.
The company stopped making the game after 2013 with the last game in the franchise, NCAA Football 14.
EA saw a class-action lawsuit brought against it by former college athletes. The company settled in 2016 for $60 million, according to IGN.
EA also saw a lawsuit filed last year as it was working on the new college football game. A report of players who opted in to have their likeness used for $500 upset many players and agencies, saying it was below their value in the age of name, image and likeness (NIL) deals.
EA settled that lawsuit in December, bringing the game closer to release in 2024.
With the release of a college football game annually, the video game company could have another strong franchise to complement its other games and annual releases.
EA CEO Andrew Wilson recently suggested the company could have an EA Sports metaverse.
EA Price Action: Electronic Arts shares closed Thursday up 0.68% at $144.05, hitting new 52-week highs of $144.53 earlier in the trading session. Shares of the video game company are up 27% over the last year.
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Yeah, It's really happening! Coming this summer. Full reveal in May #CFB25 pic.twitter.com/yMMXz7OeR8— EASPORTSCollege (@EASPORTSCollege) February 15, 2024
Photo: Pixabay
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