After almost a decade-long hiatus, Electronic Arts (EA) Games has announced the return of NCAA football video games. Many college football seasons have come and gone since NCAA football’s latest release in 2013. The NFL and college players alike have been clamoring for the football simulation game to make a return, not to mention the millions of fans begging the NCAA to work out the dispute with EA and college players, but it was not that easy.

EA’s famous game had to be discontinued following a class-action lawsuit against the NCAA and EA. EA Sports were named as an entity that was wrongfully using the names and likenesses of players without compensation. The last few games featured similar likeness and skill sets to specific high-profile college players on certain teams but did not use names as to prevent the need to pay players.

EA and the Collegiate Licensing Company reached a settlement that gave out roughly a few hundred dollars to each player whose likeness they used. EA had plans to recreate the game and pay players for their likenesses going forward, but there was one major obstacle in their way: the NCAA, whose rules made it virtually impossible for college players to profit from anything, including video game appearances. The NCAA’s rules were the straw that broke the camel’s back.

The announcement was recently made by EA that the highly revered video game would be returning sometime soon. Not much information has been released on the content of the game or what the current status is between EA and the NCAA, but the return has been confirmed. The only thing known to the public is the game is in the very early developmental stage right now and is not expected to be released in 2021.