Inside College Football 26 with EA Sports’ Principal Game Designer

Part 1: EA Sports College Football principal game designer Ben Haumiller joins Alex and Richard for a discussion of the upcoming CFB video game, with a focus on Dynasty mode and lessons learned from last year’s long-awaited return. * What EA learned from the best-selling sports game of all time * The easier and more difficult parts of releasing a second game * How the new game will (and, most importantly, won’t) include microtransactions * Real-life coaches and how they’ll change the dynasty experience * Addressing to Alex’s specific complaints about the coach carousel * Balancing the competing desires of having a realistic game, but also a game in which UMass can eventually sign a bunch of five-stars * Getting the transfer portal and recruiting right * The challenges of keeping up with a sport that is endlessly changing, especially the playoff system Part 2 of our discussion with Ben, coming later this week, is a listener Q&A just for our SplitZoneDuo.com subscribers. We’d love to have you! Come see us live at the Sports Podcast Festival on August 23 in Raleigh. Use code SPF25 for a buy-one, get-one-half-off deal: https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/78691649/the-2nd-annual-sports-podcast-festival-raleigh-the-rialto Cool stuff from Split Zone Duo’s partners * Use SZD20 for 20% off your first order at Homefield . * Enter your favorite CFB road trip at our Nokian Tyres landing page , and you’ll be entered in a drawing to win free tires. Production: Anthony Vito. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe