Back In Play: EA Sports 'College Football 25' Hits The Turf Running After 11 Years
Friday, July 19, 2024 at 01:55PM By Barry Janoff
July 19, 2024: After more than a decade of legal, financial and logistical battles and hurdles, Electronic Arts today released EA Sports College Football 25 worldwide, marking EA Sports official return to college football.
Industry analysts are calling it “one of the most anticipated videogame releases over the past 25 years,” confirmed by EA Sports, which said, “EA Sports College Football 25 had 2.2 million unique players during its exclusive four-day preorder period.”
Analysts said that translates to an estimated $165-$220 million in game pre-sales.
With the settlement of lawsuits brought by former college players, as well as a plethora of other legal and financial challenges, the franchise was reignited.
Some 11,390 college football players from 134 schools were eligible to receive a NIL $600 deal offered by EA; 11,000 accepted and were also given a free copy of the game, according to EA Sports.
Cover athletes for the game are University of Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, the University of Michigan’s Donovan Edwards and the University of Colorado’s Travis Hunter.
“From the moment we decided to make EA Sports College Football 25, the passionate college football fans out there were our team’s north star,” Daryl Holt, svp and group GM, EA Sports, said via the company.
“This game is for the fans, and the response we’ve seen from across the collegiate landscape, athletes, creators, celebrities and the core community has been nothing short of spectacular.”
The game release comes with multi-media marketing, anchored by a EA Sports College Football 25 trailer.
According to Holt, “Every team is someone's favorite, and College Football 25 is a testament to the passion and dedication of our developers to build the most authentic college football experience possible for our fans. We couldn’t be more excited to welcome millions more into the game with today’s launch.”
EA Sports’ college football franchise dates back to 1993 with the release of Bill Walsh College Football.
The series was renamed College Football USA 96, then again renamed NCAA Football 98, which was released in 1997.
The last edition prior to the new release in the franchise was EA Sports NCAA Football 14, released in July 2013 with Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson on the cover.
“From the time we decided to bring back a college football game, we identified three main areas we had to get right: authenticity, true college football gameplay, and immersive fan-favorite experiences” EA Sports wrote in a blog
“We also knew how challenging of a task it would be to authentically represent all 134 FBS schools and the intricacies that make each one unique – including stadiums, logos, team runouts, mascots, cheerleaders, multiple uniform sets including new and throwback versions, historic items, and more. But we were up for the challenge! 
“On top of that, our groundbreaking NIL program gave us the ability to include up to 11,390 real players in a college football game for the first time. Add in another 5,000 or so models for coaches, fans, created players, and more, and that’s upwards of 16,000 character models we needed to generate.”
The National College Players Assn. — a 501c3 nonprofit advocacy association made up of current and former college athletes — played a central role in getting players paid and back in the game.
“This week marks the first time in history that college football players are included and paid in EA Sports’ College Football video game!” Dyson McCutcheon, University of Washington football player and NCPA leader, said via the organization.
“It’s exciting for me, my teammates, and my friends from other schools to be in the game and get paid. I’ve been playing this game all week. I know lot of people before me fought for this and I’m grateful. It’s important for current college athletes to help make things better for future college athletes, which is why I joined the NCPA.”
People who want to listen to the sounds of college football, including 167 college fight songs and an original theme song by Grammy-nominated composer Kris Bowers, can stream the official EA Sports College Football Fight Songs soundtrack on their favorite music streaming service, also beginning today.
EA Sports College Football 25 was developed in Orlando and Madrid, Spain by EA Sports for PlayStation5 and Xbox Series X|S.
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