We’re a little under 24 hours away from the start of early access for EA Sports College Football 25, so it feels like the right moment to thank everyone who kept NCAA Football 14 going these past 11 years.
It’s impossible to individually thank every single person who helped keep ’14 going, but it’s important to acknowledge that so many had a part in making sure college football video games didn’t just vanish in the years after the series was cancelled. Whether it was our community or elsewhere, it’s a testament to the passion and care many had for the sport itself and the feelings and memories the video game was able to give us.
Not every game gets this treatment. NCAA Football 14 had the advantage coming out late enough that it could be modded and tweaked by the awesome people behind things like College Football Revamped, but I don’t think a lot of what ended up happening ends up mattering if people didn’t have warm feelings about the franchise in the first place. Maybe if College Hoops 2K8 had come out a couple years later that would have received this sort of treatment, but the point is that there are not massive communities trying to keep things like NBA Live 19 going. The closest thing we have to this would be the communities that keep NFL 2K5 going, which would be another game that was fondly remembered even in the moment.
In our newsletter, I thanked people like vikesfan and the community behind updating the NCAA Football 14 rosters for years and years, but I’ll thank them again here. And today we removed all the stickies from the forum that related to NCAA Football 14, but it’s important to note just how nice things like bwburke94’s conference realignment guide were or how clutch it was that people would keep updating what the offensive schemes were for college teams as the years advanced.
We have over 2,000 posts in the Photographic Side of NCAA Football 14, another 600+ in the videos area. We have hundreds of people who wrote dynasty stories over the years (some awesome ones are still running). There are many others who have shared sliders, rosters, and various other tweaks that helped this community and others continue to enjoy NCAA Football 14. All of it mattered.
Passion can be used for good or evil, but there’s no question in this case that tons of folks channeled that passion for good. Countless hours of enjoyment were created for people out there who just wanted to be able to play some college football. Any form of media can get a bad reputation. For video games, through the years it’s been things like addiction or violence that get attached to it at various points, and I’m not here to say everyone has healthy gaming habits, but it’s always important to remember what positive things games can deliver to people as well.
Who knows how many hard days at work were made a little easier that night because someone was able to play College Football Revamped and play with their Louisville Cardinals or Michigan Wolverines or even Fordham Rams. Who knows how many people played NCAA Football 14 back in 2013 and then in 2020 found their Xbox 360 and copy of the game in their closet and wondered, “can I still maybe get rosters for this?” before finding them here on OS. Those sort of moments were made possible by you folks.
Back in February 2021 when EA announced college football would be returning, there was still some level of doubt about it all. There were some folks at the time who understandably thought this day would never come. Heck, even six months ago some still had doubts this day would arrive. As sports gamers, good things for us are not guaranteed. This generation of sports games has been pretty middling. And these sorts of moments where franchises are brought back after long hiatuses are extremely rare.
But it is here. By this time next week, we’ll all have access to EA Sports College Football 25. Hopefully the servers can handle the strain, hopefully it’s a great game, but most of all, I hope we all remember this journey and that everyone who wants to partake earned this. We’re putting down cash to “earn this” for sure, but it’s still a special moment so here’s to everyone who made it possible.
Cheers.
