Can You Play NCAA 14 on Xbox One?

Despite being discontinued for almost a decade, hardcore “NCAA 14” fans have managed to keep the popular video game alive for longer than anyone could have predicted.

The game is widely regarded as the best in the series to date and even saw a shocking surge in prices during the pandemic.

But, can you play NCAA 14 on Xbox One?

The short answer is no. Here’s why.

Can You Play NCAA 14 on Xbox One?

Unfortunately,  there is no way to play NCAA 14 on Xbox One because the game is not backward compatible with Microsoft’s console.

The company last updated its list of Xbox backward-compatible games in November 2021 with 70 new titles and the NCAA 14 was notably missing from the options.

If that wasn’t bad enough, Microsoft has since announced that it will stop adding games to that list due to legal and technical constraints.

Sadly for fans of the classic game, this means that NCAA football 14 is not on Xbox One and isn’t expected to become backward-compatible with the Xbox One or any of the newer Microsoft consoles anytime soon.

What Console Can I Play NCAA 14 On?

The NCAA 14 may not be available for Xbox One, but you can still play the game on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

But, that’s easier said than done.

Even if you find your old console in one piece and functional, you ’ll need to find a hard copy of the game.

That’s because Electronic Arts (EA), the developer of the game, can’t sell digital copies of their games, due to legal issues, which means you can’t buy it or download it from the Xbox Marketplace or the PS3 PlayStation Store.

But, what happened?

Despite the game being a critical and commercial success, EA Sports shelved the game series the same year the NCAA 14 was released.

The decision was a direct response to a high-profile lawsuit filed by former student-athletes who accused the company of using the likeness and characteristics of players without compensating them. EA Sports ended up paying class-action compensation instead.

Then, in 2021, the NCAA updated its guidelines that cleared the way for NIL compensation.

This leads us to the next chapter.

Is There a New NCAA Game Coming to Xbox?

The good news for fans of the NCAA video game series is that the college football game is coming back with a brand new title, EA Sports College Football, and is expected to be the most detailed version of any NCAA game that has hit the market, according to sources that spoke to The Athletic.

The game is set to be released in the summer of 2024, EA Sports general manager Daryl Holt told ESPN.

EA Sports has been stingy with the details, and understandably so, because they need players to agree to be included in the game if they want to make it as realistic as possible. 

In addition to the updated NCAA guidelines, what might help the company is the series’ past success. Many of the young players that used to enjoy the NCAA games on their consoles are now college football players– and at least two dozen of them who were asked about it were more than willing to be featured in the game, according to a small and informal 247Sports poll.

The downside is the new game won’t have backwards compatibility with any Xbox or PS console, except for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Bottom Line

Unfortunately for fans of the NCAA series, there is no way to play NCAA 14 on Xbox One. The game is not backward-compatible with the console and can only be played on Xbox 360 and PS3, provided that you have a hard copy.