The impacts of gaming experts Jared Kushner, Mohammad Bin Salman and Andrew Wilson continue to other EA franchises.
2026 might just be the worst year for gaming. On top of the announcement from Sony that they'll be spearheading the physical games departure in 2028, new bad news caused by the EA buyout that was first announced late September 2025 are making rounds in the gaming community.
Table of Contents
EA College Football 27 Getting Moola'd
This time around it's another Electronic Arts game titled EA College Football 27. A 70 dollar USD single player game available across PC and Console platforms - charging players real money through virtual currency to progress their characters.
To make things worse, the new in-game monetization system for EA CF27 was revealed just two days before the game's release today on July 9th, 2026. Electronic Arts left it to their creators within the EA Creator Network group to break the bad news of the game having pay-to-win microtransactions. Might be shocking for EA College Football fans, but that's just another day for being a Sims Creator within the EA Creator Network group!
Breakdown of EA CF27 Microtransactions
According to player's reports, the in-game monetization feature lets players upgrade their Coach's skills in Dynasty game mode. In translation - if you want to flex your coach and team having the highest ranks with other players you'll need to pay using College football points.
Here's a full breakdown of the College Football Points and how much they cost in real cash. Information provided by neonlightsmedia:
College Football Points Amount
Cost USD
500 Points
$4.99
1,050 Points
$9.99
2,800 Points
$24.99
5,850 Points
$49.99
8,900 Points
$74.99
12,000 Points
$99.99
18,500 Points
$149.99
YouTube Creator Bordeaux did an in-game preview report of what the EA College Football 27 virtual currency points look like in game, including the Bonus Points you get:
On top of the Early Access coverage they provided, the creator has also shown public support for a now-trending #CFBPlayDontPay social media hashtag. Which players have been using across social media and replying to official EA accounts to ask and remove the microtransaction features.
EA has responded, but sounds like they’re gonna stand firm for now and double down on the changes with micro transactions They’re also using creators to push their messaging without making a statement themselves or addressing anything
“the core coach level progression is unchanged from CFB 26” true, but normal is way too slow, and you REMOVED 2 faster settings
They acknowledge “Fast/Faster Coach Progression was removed from Dynasty,” 0 update on a plan to bring it back ZERO mention of removing XP sliders from Road to Glory either
“continuing to monitor community feedback” basically meaning we don’t wanna make a change because we think it’ll blow over lmao
I can’t believe this is the response the College Football team is making. Do better
The rumors of what will happen to EA Franchises post-EA Buyout started first in February 2026 with more specific plans and detailing. Confirming the suspicion that the buyout debt cost will be paid out primarily by the players themselves by adding in-game microtransactions.
The new framework will restructure the franchise to heavily involve EA into the day to day operations, and rather than Maxis coming up with ideas to meet the targets set by EA, sections of EA will now be more involved in the game from how content is created, distributed and monetised. Plans include subscription models, digital storefronts with paid and virtual reward currency, deeper engagement events, creative direction and more. This will include creative control on execution of ideas to minimise development costs, with EA being more involved in working with game designers.
This is the fate of The Sims Franchise after the EA buyout, but it's obvious now that it's not just exclusive to this IP.
A new report from Insider Gaming reveals that EA College Football 27 developers knew about these forced microtransaction features being implemented for months. And were reportedly "livid" about it:
Sources tell me that EA has been looking at ways to add more monetization options to all of the games and franchises in its portfolio. Whether it be College Football 27 and its single-player modes; UFC 6, which will have paid expansions for the first time; Madden 27, which will have more monetization as well; or EA FC with its upcoming The Grounds mode, everything is on the table regarding how EA is preparing to pay off that new debt. Even future single-player-only titles from EA will have more monetization options implemented.
Going back to College Football 27, these decisions, as you’d expect, didn’t come from the core team who’s responsible for the game. Speaking to multiple people who will remain anonymous due to not being permitted to talk to the press, many developers working on College Football 27, who knew about this implementation for months, were “livid”. Even the player response that has happened was expected, and there was a worry from at least some of those who spoke that it would “be loudest its ever been”.
But, those same sources say that it likely won’t result in much and EA is just waiting for things to blow over.
“It doesn’t matter how loud the noise is, unfortunately,” one source said. “A band-aid might be put out to make people happy in the short term, but additional costs for players are going to be added moving forward. It’ll all just have the messaging of, ‘Well, you don’t have to spend the money if you don’t want to.'”
If this is the future of upcoming single player games from Electronic Arts then we should all be very scared. Who knows, maybe instead of having in-game cheats in The Sims Project X you'd be forced to pay for Moola in order to quickly advance your characters. You never know what this obviously not-so-bright future from Andrew Wilson and his new friends are going to bring next.
What are your thoughts on EA College Football 27 getting the similar 2026 Sims experience? Let us know in the comments down below and stay tuned for more EA-related news on Sims Community!
4 Comments
Miata
Next year will be ugly for gamers that can’t afford EA games. This is so ugly and disgusting. Leverage Buyout is going to kill EA’s games and IP’s.
These EA game changes started last year with some of their mobile games before the buyout. I play 2 of their mobile games & just few weeks before the buyout announcement 1 of the games was completely changed. It’s a game that had collaborations with real brand designers to include their designs in the game. From Aug 2025 there were so many changes made all at once it looked as if they were desperate to make more money by saving money & increasing the cost of micro transactions in the game.
1. They got rid of all the real designers who were sent emails in June 2025 informing them they would not renew their contracts.
2. They increased the in-game prices of items by 40 – 50 percent.
3. They increased their pack sale costs.
4. They now recycle a lot of their daily challenges with new (Ai?) prizes as rewards.
5. I heard they got rid of most of their graphic designers & a lot of people claim they now use Ai etc
A lot of players have left not because of the buyout but because so many changes were made in the game all at once.
For the other mobile game I heard they got rid of some of the workers & the players complain about the increase in prices within the game to make people spend more real money.
Cost Of Game Packs
Game 1 – The Cost ranges from 1.99 to 99.99 (Most packs are 4.99 & 5.99)
Game 2 – The Cost ranges from 2.99 to 199.99
Note that these games also offer free currency for signing in & watching Ads so there’s no point giving them any money & most players are disappointed with the game changes & greed.
The players already know the games will be cancelled after the buyout because both games were initially owned by other companies & have been sold twice.
There are also changes with the sims 4 with the introduction of the marketplace & lack of updates to save money. The articles here about the Royalty pack being the cheapest due to recycling of many old game items & the information about a new Sims 4 game extension made with recycled ideas & items made sense because we (in other games) were already experiencing all the recycling & the desperate moves to save money while trying to earn more money.
Actually I play 3 EA mobile games if I include Sims Freeplay.
NoCC All the Time
Reply to GameTalk
That thing about AI prizes while firing designers…there’s been speculation inTS4 reddits about some new kits containing AI generated assets. I wonder if this adds weight to that.
Miata
Reply to GameTalk
The Buyout is All about AI generative gaming and microtransactions..Nothing else matters to the new owners of EA.
Sad times but also exciting times. Games are changing for better or worse for the consumer.
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4 Comments
Next year will be ugly for gamers that can’t afford EA games. This is so ugly and disgusting. Leverage Buyout is going to kill EA’s games and IP’s.
These EA game changes started last year with some of their mobile games before the buyout. I play 2 of their mobile games & just few weeks before the buyout announcement 1 of the games was completely changed. It’s a game that had collaborations with real brand designers to include their designs in the game. From Aug 2025 there were so many changes made all at once it looked as if they were desperate to make more money by saving money & increasing the cost of micro transactions in the game.
1. They got rid of all the real designers who were sent emails in June 2025 informing them they would not renew their contracts.
2. They increased the in-game prices of items by 40 – 50 percent.
3. They increased their pack sale costs.
4. They now recycle a lot of their daily challenges with new (Ai?) prizes as rewards.
5. I heard they got rid of most of their graphic designers & a lot of people claim they now use Ai etc
A lot of players have left not because of the buyout but because so many changes were made in the game all at once.
For the other mobile game I heard they got rid of some of the workers & the players complain about the increase in prices within the game to make people spend more real money.
Cost Of Game Packs
Game 1 – The Cost ranges from 1.99 to 99.99 (Most packs are 4.99 & 5.99)
Game 2 – The Cost ranges from 2.99 to 199.99
Note that these games also offer free currency for signing in & watching Ads so there’s no point giving them any money & most players are disappointed with the game changes & greed.
The players already know the games will be cancelled after the buyout because both games were initially owned by other companies & have been sold twice.
There are also changes with the sims 4 with the introduction of the marketplace & lack of updates to save money. The articles here about the Royalty pack being the cheapest due to recycling of many old game items & the information about a new Sims 4 game extension made with recycled ideas & items made sense because we (in other games) were already experiencing all the recycling & the desperate moves to save money while trying to earn more money.
Actually I play 3 EA mobile games if I include Sims Freeplay.
Reply to GameTalk
That thing about AI prizes while firing designers…there’s been speculation inTS4 reddits about some new kits containing AI generated assets. I wonder if this adds weight to that.
Reply to GameTalk
The Buyout is All about AI generative gaming and microtransactions..Nothing else matters to the new owners of EA.
Sad times but also exciting times. Games are changing for better or worse for the consumer.
Welcome to Sims Community!
Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas in a safe space.
In order to do so, we've created a simple set of rules that will improve your experience. Simply put, keep it civil.
Your post will/might be rejected if it contains:
User accounts will/might be blocked if we notice:
So, how can you be a power user?
Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Please note that we're aware of certain issues with Sign In / Log In and Create Account / Email Confirmation issues. We're working behind-the-scenes on a new Account Creation process. Thank you for your patience and remember - freedom of speech is not freedom of reach