New gameplay details have finally been revealed for College Football 26. We touched on a lot of them earlier on, following the gameplay deep dive EA dropped this morning, but some of these new and/or refined systems and mechanics deserve a bit of extra attention. One such example is the Wear and Tear system, which was a major part of last year’s title and has featured prominently in EA’s marketing of the game.
But what is the Wear and Tear system in College Football 26, and how is it changing? And how big of an effect can it have on not just the minute-to-minute gameplay? Using all the information EA has provided us pre-launch, here’s everything we know about the Wear and Tear system in College Football 26.
What Is The Wear And Tear System?
Before we can dive into how the mechanic has been tweaked this year, we must first establish what Wear and Tear is. Much like its name implies, Wear and Tear is supposed to refer to the degradation of players go through as a game wanes on. For instance, if a player is playing too many snaps and/or receiving too much punishment, they receive several “debuffs” that make playing with them more difficult. It is also limb-specific, adding an even deeper layer to the mechanic.
Overall, Wear and Tear was a welcome addition to College Football 25 and further cemented it as one of the best sports games on the market. However, it was far from perfect — much like any new system, it had issues. For instance, many players complained of even minor contact resulting in ridiculous and unfair debuffs. For instance, one Reddit user complained of one of his running backs receiving extreme damage after only a few hits, despite the player rating high in the strength department. There were also complaints that the AI assistant didn’t help with these issues, nor did the UI do a good job of informing the user of how dangerously close one of their players was to being carted off, forcing them to use the depth chart at the pause menu way more often than they wished.
So obviously, while it was largely embraced by the CFB faithful, it was in need of some refinement ahead of College Football 26.
How Is Wear And Tear Changing In College Football 26?
In order to give players way more options and possibilities, EA has made the Wear and Tear system completely customizable through in-game settings. These settings are completely position-specific and can be adjusted to reflect what kind of experience users have when playing the game. Are you finding the quarterbacks to be a bit too fragile? Then there should be a setting to adjust that. From the early looks we’ve been given, these settings appear to be formatted as sliders that can be fine-tuned.
Weather is also a factor when it comes to Wear and Tear in College Football 26. After consulting with real-life coaches and players, EA has made the decision to have weather have a greater effect on the mechanic. In turn, College Football 26 has “integrated weather-based modifiers into the Wear and Tear system.” So, we’ll be looking out for how it’s implemented once the game releases, and whether or not it will be mostly functional out of the box or require some serious fine-tuning.
So, how will this be represented in the minute-to-minute gameplay? According to EA, you’ll start to see signs of players being out of sorts just by looking at them pre-snap. “If your quarterback’s health dips below 60%, you’ll clearly see it reflected in his pre-snap demeanor,” EA’s Campus Huddle post says. “Depending on whether he’s dealing with upper- or lower-body damage, he might roll his shoulder, shake out his arm, or gingerly kick out a sore leg as he approaches the line of scrimmage.”
Having this kind of visual cue should definitely be a handy tool for players. But how do they deal with it once they notice something’s amiss?
This is where the new Dynamic Substitution system comes in. In CFB 25, users had to pause their game and manually start rotating players to cope with the effects Wear and Tear had on their players. This year, with just the touch of the d-pad, users will be able to make substitutions on the fly and more effectively conserve players. In theory, this is an incredible way to streamline minute-to-minute changes that must be made.
One last thing on Wear and Tear: A player’s Toughness rating plays a bigger factor in CFB 26. Last year, Toughness was an indicator of how well a player could avoid being turned into mashed potatoes throughout a game. This year, Toughness impacts recovery, too. “Now, Toughness also affects recovery — dictating how quickly each body part heals over time,” EA has said. “That means the same rating that helps a player absorb hits also plays a direct role in how fast they bounce back.” This should do well at balancing the mechanic out and mitigating some of the more unrealistic effects it’s had.
