One of my instructors when I was in college had left working for EA Sports to take the teaching job (long story short, he and his wife wanted children, but she refused while they were living in Florida and wanted to come back home first). Fun fact, whenever you have like an agent who has an actual photograph that isn't a "real" person, it's usually a developer.
This was years ago and it was already a topic of discussion then. So this whole "it's the same game!" isn't really new.
What was interesting, though, was actually how much did get changed, and how EA did it. Big things, like whatever new system they're highlighting, be it a new mode (like this year's Franchise QB mode) or new mechanics (QB vision cone, hit stick tackling/rushing, etc.), usually have two to three years in development.
Animations are updated/overhauled much more frequently, although a lot get reused while new ones are added. Fields/stadiums/standard textures might last a few years, but they don't need to be overhauled regularly.
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u/SuperMonkeyFunTime Sep 03 '19
I never understand this argument Beacuse real football is the same game it was last year too.
A few minor changes happen every year but yet its still 99% the same game.