College Football 27 has already forced EA to back down on one of its most unpopular launch decisions, but the game’s reputation is still in bad shape. Paid progression has been removed from Road to Glory and Online Dynasty, yet players have not suddenly forgiven how the game arrived.
The anger hit because these were not small bonus items tucked away in Ultimate Team. Players found paid shortcuts tied to modes built around growth, time, and long-term progress, which made a full-priced sports game feel like it was pushing extra spending into places fans expected to be safe.
Even after the reversal, College Football 27 remains one of the roughest user-rated major releases of the year, with players now questioning the whole structure around progression, rewards, and trust.
EA removed paid progression after strong backlash from players who felt Road to Glory and Online Dynasty had crossed a clear line. The company admitted the feature missed the mark and pulled the options, which gave the community a rare quick win against a major sports publisher.
The main issue is that the problem affected players before the fix was released. Players had already seen the system, understood what it meant, and left reviews explaining why it felt wrong in a $70 game. Once that trust was broken, removing the paid buttons did not erase the feeling that the game had been built around them.
That is why the U-turn has not fully changed the conversation. Fans are not only asking whether the microtransactions are gone today. They are asking why they were allowed into these modes at all.
Road to Glory and Dynasty work best when progress feels earned. Players want to build a college athlete, develop a coach, improve a program, and feel the reward comes from playing well rather than from paying to skip the slow parts.
If progression feels slower than it should, players will suspect the grind was shaped around the paid options, even after those options are removed. The fear is not just what EA changed at launch, but what may still be left behind in the balance.
EA now has to prove the modes feel fair without extra spending. That means tuning XP, coach growth, player upgrades, and long-term rewards in a way that makes the game fun across many seasons.
The strange part is that many players and critics still see good football inside College Football 27. The on-field action, school atmosphere, presentation, and defensive changes have all earned praise from people who still enjoy actually playing the game.
That has made the backlash even stronger. Fans can see a strong sports game under the frustration, which makes the off-field problems harder to accept. A bad game is easy to dismiss, but a good game hurt by bad systems is more annoying.
Players are not only complaining about microtransactions. They are also pointing to bugs, slow menus, Road to Glory issues, Dynasty problems, and the sense that EA is testing how much fans will tolerate.
Removing paid progression was the right first step, but it cannot be the final answer. College Football 27 needs better mode balance, better communication, and patches that address the problems players are still raising after the microtransaction reversal.
If players believe paid progression could return later with cleaner wording, the same fight will happen again. The community has already shown that it will react fast when core sports modes feel shaped around extra spending.
College Football 27 still has time to recover, but the next updates need to show more than regret. Players want fair progression, cleaner modes, fewer bugs, and a game that does not make them fight for basic trust after launch.
