NCAA Football 14 is an American footballvideo game published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon. Part of the NCAA Football series, it is the successor to NCAA Football 13. Despite the game's positive critical and commercial reception, no sequel was produced the following year. Due to legal issues surrounding the game's use of college player likenesses, as of May 2020, NCAA Football 2014 is the last installment of the NCAA Football series. As the most recent entry in the dormant series, the game continues to be played, with unofficial roster updates being released reflecting subsequent seasons. However, the game is now out of print and has become one of the most valuable and sought after games on the PS3 and Xbox 360.
Development
NCAA Football 14 is part of Electronic Arts's NCAA Football video game series. Part of the game's development focused on improving its user interface and presentation, with a mantra to "keep things fast" and "keep things moving". The changes included a streamlined main menu, a shorter pre-game segment, more varied in-game vignettes, and a new halftime show with ESPN's Rece Davis and David Pollack. The game featured Kirk Herbstreit and Brad Nessler as commentators. On March 10, 2013, it was announced that former Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson would be the cover athlete for the game. A fan vote beginning on December 5, 2012 allowed fans to choose what teams would be represented in the cover vote. After it was narrowed down to 32, a second round of voting narrowed it down to 16. A third round reduced it to 8 teams with players. Players also vying for the cover were Eddie Lacy, Kenjon Barner, Jarvis Jones, EJ Manuel, Ryan Swope, Andre Ware, John Simon, and Tyler Eifert.
Reception
NCAA Football 14 has an aggregate score for both the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions on Metacritic of 77. The aggregate score on Gamerankings for the PS3 version is 77.27%, and for Xbox 360 it is 78.42%. The game received mixed reviews. GameSpot gave the game a 6/10, praising the on-field action but criticizing the unnecessary experience system, the recruiting process, and the lack of significant changes from NCAA Football 13. IGN, who gave the game a 7.4/10, had similar comments, praising the fun running game and improvements to Dynasty Mode, but criticizing online servers, the dated visuals, and the "generic" feel to the game. NCAA Football 14 was a commercial success, selling over 1 million copies.
Teams and Ratings
Future of series
As of 2020, NCAA Football 2014 is the most recent installment of EA Sports NCAA Series. The main reason behind the decision was the ongoing debate on whether NCAA athletes should receive payment. Many players argued the game series used their likeness, yet they saw no compensation. There are currently no plans to revitalize the franchise, but Peter Moore, an EA executive, was quoted as saying, "One day, I know be back." Despite the series stagnation, dedicated fans have been putting in a collective effort to keep the rosters updated to the best of the game's allowed capabilities via online roster updates and sports forums. In December of 2019, NCAA president Mark Emmert spoke as part of an event hosted by the Aspen Institute. He outlined four necessities for the game to be brought back: 1. The NCAA would need assurances it would not be sued. 2. A system would need to be created to pay athletes used in the game. 3. The NCAA legal structure would need to change. The NCAA would need to be sure unions would not be formed.
