SerpApi.Org
It’s been a tumultuous launch for College Football 27, due in large part to changes made to the game’s popular offline modes. While online Ultimate Team modes remain primary income drivers for sports game developers and publishers today, that hasn’t led to players abandoning offline modes, particularly in the College Football series, where the unique appeal of recruiting and building a program is a big draw for many gamers.
When EA tried to merge online mode elements into its single-player modes, fans were quick to voice their near-unanimous disapproval.
The Progression Update That Rocked the Sports Gaming World
The drama arose out of the decision to take microtransactions, previously confined to purchases that could help you in online competitive modes, and move them into the solo worlds of Dynasty and Road to Glory. Progression has long been a part of these modes, with gamers earning progression on their coaches or players by participating in games and hitting both short-term results in games and long-term objectives.
In an acknowledgement that not every gamer has unlimited time to devote to their gaming, and that some gamers simply want to have a casual experience while still seeing their player characters improving, these modes came with XP settings which amplified the rate at which points accrued. This meant that if you wanted a more challenging run, you could play on default, but if you were looking to speed things up, you could choose a setting that multiplied your points by up to double.
With College Football 27, EA made the decision to remove these options, instead replacing them with the option to pay for progression by purchasing credits you could spend on raising stats. The system appeared to take after similar choices in the NBA 2K series, which were similarly unpopular with fans of the hoops giant.
What EA Changed To Meet The Backlash
Where things did not go down as with 2K was in the fan reaction. Although unpopular, the pay-to-progress system in 2K has become the norm, with gamers who opt not to spend more money on top of their full game purchase forced to accept their characters being far more mediocre on paper than their player-assisted performance would imply.
The pushback from College Football fans was swift and loud. Led by EA-partner Bordeaux, the #cfbplaydontpay movement kicked off. At a time when every new headline about the gaming world seems to bring more bad news for gamers, the movement has produced a rare piece of optimism.
EA backed down, announcing on X that the use of pay-to-progress points in solo modes was being shut down:
In a development blog last week, EA announced that in a corresponding move to the removal of microtransactions, the game would be getting XP Speed settings back:
The three new Coach XP Speed Settings are:
- Casual: Fastest coach progression (1.5x XP), equivalent to the Faster setting from College Football 26. Best for players who want to unlock abilities quickly and accelerate coach growth.
- Simulation: Balanced coach progression (1.25x XP). Best for players looking for a realistic pace while still progressing faster than the default experience.
- Career: Authentic long-term coach progression. (1.0x XP), equivalent to the College Football 27 default setting. Best for players who want the full Dynasty Blueprint experience, where every Coach Point and coaching decision carries more weight over the course of a Dynasty.
What This Means Going Forward
The good news for gamers is that it means you can once again adjust your XP progression speed, should that be your preferred option. The new settings don’t fully replicate options in College Football 26, with the fastest available option now merely being on par with “Faster” progression last year, but getting three points of progression for every two points that you earn normally is still a significant boost to the rate at which you can progress.
It’s still early days with the new update, so knowing just what this will mean for the long-term effect of a career progression will still take a little more time to see enough gamers making enough deep runs, but it does give reason to reexamine overall sentiment about the mode.
The primary complaints around the use of microtransactions in solo modes weren’t specifically the ability for gamers to accelerate their games should they choose to. It’s a solo mode, not an online competitive one, so optional shortcuts wouldn’t ideally have an effect on those who choose not to use them. It didn’t take gamers long to start doing the math, however, and realize that things were set up in a way that not investing real money meant getting truly elite ratings was simply not a realistic target under the old system.
There is still a reasonable argument to be made that accelerated progression options should not be required to make achieving elite status feasible, but at least now it is on the table. With the return of progression speed settings, you can now tailor your progression to get the level of challenge you want. As for the fans’ relationship to the game, the change will help, and may even largely relegate the issue to a minor one in how the game is viewed, but as can be seen in Bordeaux’s stating he would no longer partner with the company officially, the perceived betrayal will likely carry negative sentiment toward the series for the near future, and fans will remain wary for any signs of similar shenanigans in future updates or games.
