NEW YORK – Hang on to NCAA Football 2014, all you video game fans. It will be a collector’s edition.

The NCAA said Wednesday it will bar Electronic Arts Inc. from using its logo and name beginning next year. The move ends a lucrative eight-year business deal with the gaming industry giant and comes as the NCAA fights a high-profile lawsuit that says the governing body owes billions of dollars to former players for allowing their likenesses to be used for free.

The NCAA said it won’t seek a new contract with EA Sports, which manufactures the popular game, beyond the current one that expires in June 2014. But that won’t stop EA Sports from producing a college football video game depicting powerhouse schools such as Alabama, Ohio State and Oregon.

“EA Sports will continue to develop and publish college football games, but we will no longer include the NCAA names and marks,” said Andrew Wilson, executive vice president. “Our relationship with the Collegiate Licensing Co. is strong and we are already working on a new game for next generation consoles which will launch next year and feature the college teams, conferences and all the innovation fans expect.”

The company reported $3.8 billion in net revenue during its last fiscal year and is well known not just for its NCAA Football franchise but its Madden NFL, FIFA Soccer and other games.

NCAA Football allows participants to play as any major college football team, though unlike in its professional sports games, the names of players are not used. The similarities between the avatars in the game and actual college football players are at the root of a legal fight that could alter the way the NCAA does business in the future.

 


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