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EA Sports is set to offer college athletes $600 for their name, image, and likeness (NIL) for the upcoming release of EA College Football 25.
The deal, reported via ESPN, will allow the sports gaming giant to feature these 11,000 prospective players in the new game for the sum — and a free copy of the game.
ESPN’s Michael Rothstein commented that “athletes would remain in the game for their entire careers but could opt out of future editions if they choose. Athletes who remain in the game for multiple years will be paid annually, and players who transfer will continue to be compensated as long as they are on a roster.”
No doubt some players will be thrilled about this offer, but due to some college stars earning a lot more in sponsorship, EA might have to dig a little deeper to sign bigger prospective names for the title. There is no cover star for the title thus far, unlike previous iterations of the NCAA series.
What is NIL?
On October 29, 2019, the NCAA’s board of governors voted to institute new rules allowing student-athletes to profit from using their NIL.
NIL has been a core part of college football since this landmark ruling, allowing players to sign deals and sponsorships as their young career progresses.
The last title in this series was NCAA Football 14, but the stoppage in the title lifecycle was down to a lawsuit involving the NIL of a rumored 300,000 college athletes.
Due to a lengthy court battle, the series has not been seen, save a few college football teams appearing in EA’s Madden titles until now.
EA would announce plans for another college football title in 2021 after agreeing on a deal with the NIL representation association, the Collegiate Licensing Company. Still, it would take several years to get to the recent teaser trailer:

What’s in the game?
Details of the game have emerged, and NIL will make a feature, hence EA’s surge to get as many players as possible signed up before launch.
Two modes, Dynasty and Road to Glory, have been mentioned. Dynasty sees the player take over a collegiate program, and the Road to Glory is the standalone path a player takes to, well, glory…
Daryl Holt, EA Sports senior vice president and group general manager of EA Tiburon, said to ESPN, “If you think about representing what’s happening in the sport when we talk about things like Dynasty and Road to Glory, there are new ways to recruit, there are transfer portals, there’s NIL, there’s a lot of things to think about.”
”That has really added to the complexity and the intrigue of the sport that we want to make sure is there for our players,” he concluded, bringing the reality of the college path to the consumer.
ESPN’s Chris Fowler is synonymous with college football, and he confirmed via X that his voice would be part of the broadcast team for the game:

I’m in the Game! Today, I can finally make it official. I am honored to be one of the voices in #CFB25 ! Wait until you see this game! #EAPartner https://t.co/mdLRo77QZR
— Chris Fowler (@cbfowler) February 22, 2024

EA has said more information will be released in the coming months, but time will tell if we see all college athletes represented for a copy and some cash.
Image credit: Lucas Andrade; Unsplash
The post EA offer $600 to college athletes to license their likeness in new game appeared first on ReadWrite.

Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc and FromSoftware have said in a joint release that fantasy game Elden Ring has become their biggest selling title with 23 million copies sold.
In comparison to other intellectual property from Bandai Namco and From Software, Dark Soul’s entire franchise sold 33.4 million units in total. However, some credit needs to be given to the precursor to this newest entrant in the Souls-like series, as it laid the foundation for Elden Ring to be a global success story for both companies.
The title’s spectacular sales were revealed off the back of the Shadow of the Erdrtree downloadable content (DLC) announcement to fans this week via X:

In the Land of Shadow, Miquella awaits the return of his promised Lord.
Pre-order #ELDENRING Shadow of the Erdtree: https://t.co/X4NyBsLYRC pic.twitter.com/8RTCCxFYUa
— ELDEN RING (@ELDENRING) February 21, 2024

Check out our review of the contents laid out, including the pre-order rewards of Ring of Miquella, a Collector’s Edition with a 40-page hardcover artbook, a 46cm statue of Messmer the Impaler, and the game’s soundtrack.
What is Elden Ring?
The action role-playing game is set in the Lands Between, a varied expanse ruled over by Demi-Gods who thirst for the shattered fragments of the Elden Ring, a relic that brings order and control.
The gameplay is iconic of the Dark Souls and Bloodborne titles that had critical acclaim across multiple consoles and PC. The lumbering and often brutally stark worlds have gained a reputation for taking no prisoners when it comes to combat mechanics. So players have to save their progress via milestones represented by bonfires and lanterns intermittently placed between hordes of evil monsters.
Handing the title over
Bandai Namco officially handed over the rights to the Elden Ring franchise last week in a move that sees the 23 million selling title then become the property of From Software entirely.
In just under two years since its release on 25 February 2022, the game has amassed a loyal following eager for this new DLC and still continues to attract new players. So future installments of this franchise will have a heavily invested community that will be eager for more tales of this brutal medieval land.
In related Elden Ring news, a sequel might not be in the works, but rumors abound of Tencent planning a mobile adaptation of the Lands Between. We reported earlier this month that the Chinese tech giant had snapped up the rights to produce a title and had placed “a few dozen people” on developing it.
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Nvidia just launched a new app that combined the Control Panel and GeForce Experience to make GPU and settings adjustments that much easier for PC gamers.
Part of the beauty of PC gaming is being able to fine-tune every aspect of your software to get the most out of your gameplay. For Nvidia users to do so, they need to access the outdated Control Panel App and dig into the depths of their settings to configure features like G-Sync. You’d also need a separate app, GeForce Experience, to take care of simple GPU adjustments, driver updates and quick settings.
Now, however, it just got a lot easier. The Nvidia App is only in its beta stages but claims to be able to update drivers and install standalone applications like GeForce Now, as well as make all kinds of GPU adjustments. Game and driver settings are also in one place for easy adjustments during gaming sessions.
Nvidia app opens up new features
As well as being a settings game-changer, there is a wealth of new features as well, including a newly-designed in-game overlay to make it easier to access recording tools and performance monitoring – a particularly useful feature for streamers. It allows you to employ various filters, including AI-powered ones for GeForce RTX users.
On the topic of RTX, the app appears to act as a gateway for those dipping their toes into the world of RTX capabilities, with the option to experiment with AI-optimized textures for older games that wouldn’t usually have RTX support. There’s also the new RTX Dynamic Vibrance to improve visual clarity, an upgrade to the old Digital Vibrance feature currently found in the Control Panel app.
The beta version of the Nvidia app is available to download right now via the company’s website.
Featured image: Nvidia App
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Skull and Bones is a decent game but it’s just not a AAAA game like it was described by company executives trying to justify the $70 price tag recently. That quote, alongside the “get used to the fact you don’t own your games anymore” howler shows an underlying lack of respect for the level of knowledge of gamers these days.
Also, don’t just start adding As to the triple-A standard of a big game, especially if what you are describing is; leaning towards the shallow side of content in the first place. The gaming world waited years and years for Skull and Bones to come out and now it sort of feels like somebody said, “Right enough is enough, we have to launch this game at some point.”
What next? Star Citizen on Game Pass in the morning?
Despite being a solid pirate romp, it has several of the best bits missing from Black Flag it seems players agree with the player count, according to a report by Insider Gaming totaling around 850k, including those playing with a free eight-hour trial. Palworld just announced it’s passed 25 million today, and triple-A that is not.
The average player time is three to four hours a day, which is good but will need to be maintained for the game not to suddenly find itself dead in the water with no community. But at $70 you have to really like that free trial to stick around.
Insider Gaming reports that one employee who worked on the project scathingly said, “I think we all know this is a $30-$40 game at best, but it’s not in our control to determine those things.”
If the game did indeed cost $200 million dollars to finish, with those numbers it would seem a long way from making that back, even at its high RRP. The wait goes on for the perfect pirate game.
The post “We all know this is a $30-$40 game” – Ubisoft struggles with Skull & Bones player count appeared first on ReadWrite.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has urged consumers not to use smart devices to manage blood glucose levels unless they pierce the skin.
The FDA’s statement, released on their website officially states that only the items that are FDA-approved for specifically managing these vital levels should be trusted. FDA MedWatch posted on X:

Do Not Use Smartwatches or Smart Rings to Measure Blood Glucose – FDA Safety Communication https://t.co/OmUgZAT0dW pic.twitter.com/3iSavMqYO8
— US FDA MedWatch (@FDAMedWatch) February 21, 2024

FDA advice
The FDA has stated that “regardless of manufacturer or brand” those devices which are not approved by the regulator should be avoided as “sellers of these smartwatches and smart rings claim their devices measure blood glucose levels without requiring people to prick their finger or pierce the skin. They claim to use non-invasive techniques. These smartwatches and smart rings do not directly test blood glucose levels.”
Accurate reportage of blood glucose is vital for diabetic conditions for example and inaccurate results could prove more costly than a non-regulated device. Taking the wrong dose of insulin,
sulfonylureas or other medications based on improper reportage can cause an imbalance that could lead to “mental confusion, coma, or death within hours of the error.”
”If your medical care depends on accurate blood glucose measurements, talk to your health care provider about an appropriate FDA-authorized device for your needs,” says the statement recommendations for Consumers, Patients and Caregivers.
The government watchdog has asked users who have had issues with medical devices to report the problem via the MedWatch Voluntary Reporting Form.
Any developments that arise in this area will be monitored by the FDA and they will keep the public informed according to the statement.
In tech-related medical news that might not thrill the FDA, Goolge’s Articulate Medical Intelligence Explorer (AMIE) reportedly became more efficient at diagnosing conditions in text-based interactions with patients.
The large language model (LMM) managed to beat human doctors in a closed experiment of twenty mock patients and their fabricated illnesses, but Google has been quick to reaffirm that this was just a trial of a potential new avenue for artificial intelligence (AI) application.
AI is becoming an ever-increasing part of the modern world and reportage data and experiments will continue to be a feature as long as the technology industry sees them as valuable, however, institutions like the FDA will be close at hand to regulate them.
Image Credit: FDA.
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