The EA Sports College Football series, which began in 1993 as Bill Walsh College Football and was later rebranded as NCAA Football, serves as the college counterpart to the Madden NFL games, letting players compete with real Division I FBS teams. Early titles were celebrated for adding real bowl games and all Division I-A teams, but the franchise went on hiatus in 2013 after the NCAA withdrew its license amid lawsuits over player likenesses, and three major conferences also pulled their trademark support. EA revived the series in 2021, eventually releasing a brand-new game in mid-2024 for next-gen consoles, noting the massive effort required to build it from scratch. The revival was a major commercial success, prompting EA to resume annual releases. By January 2026, the series saw a 20 percent increase in active users compared to the previous year, cementing its strong return to the gaming spotlight.