EA Will Include Player Names in New College Football Video Game

Pitt fans will get to play as their favorite Panthers in the new NCAA College Football video game.

PITTSBURGH -- The long wait for a new college football video game is coming to an end soon and Electronic Arts has taken another step forward in its pursuit of a video game that more closely resembles the classic one that so many grew up playing. 

According to a report from ESPN's Michael Rothstein, Pitt fans will be able to play as their favorite Panthers - not just vague representations of those stars - in the coming EA Sports College Football game. EA Sports has partnered with OneTeam Partners to "facilitate collegiate athletes' names and likenesses" into the game, which is expected to be released next year. 

The partnership with OneTeam means that players will likely have the opportunity to opt-in to allow their name, image and likeness to be used in the video game and players would be compensated for doing so. No details about how players will be compensated have been released yet but the representative Rothstein spoke with said the goal is to create "as inclusive and equitable as possible" a compensation structure. If a player opts out, a generic avatar will be created in their place. 

College sports video games were one of the things that sparked the continuing push for athlete compensation, with others making millions off the production and sales of the game while athletes saw none of it. The liberalization of NIL laws has opened the door for the game to return and for players to receive money for their contributions to the game. 

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