EA Sports College Football 25: A Triumphant Return to the Gridiron

After more than a decade since its latest release, EA's college football video game series is back in the form of EA Sports College Football 25. The game officially launches on July 19, but there are multiple ways to play the game early.

Release Date and Early Access

College Football 25 will be released on July 19. However, those eager to dive in can gain early access. The game unlocks today, July 15, at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET, for those in the US, according to listings on Xbox Series X|S and PS5.

Everyone who buys the game's deluxe edition ($100) can start playing the full game on July 16. This is standard stuff for EA, as it often opens its games up multiple days early to people who pay extra.

Another way to play College Football 25 starting on July 16 is through the EA Play early access trial. Through this trial, people can play the game for 10 hours. So be sure to close the app when you're not playing, or else the clock might run out sooner than you'd like. EA Play costs $6/month or $40/year.

The Return of a Classic

College Football 25 is the first new entry in EA's college football series since 2013's NCAA Football 14. EA retired the series after that release for a number of reasons, including legal problems and lawsuits involving the NCAA. EA broke up with the NCAA and brokered licensing deals with teams, leagues, and players. There are more than 134 FBS schools featured in the game, along with thousands of players.

NIL and the Inclusion of Real Players

Thanks to NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) in collegiate athletics, the first thing that stands out is the inclusion of real-life players’ names and likenesses in the game. Whereas in previous installments, players in the game were nameless with numbers that just so happened to correspond with real-life rosters. As such, this year's cover athletes are current players for the first time ever. Texas’ Quinn Ewers, Colorado’s Travis Hunter, and Michigan’s Donovan Edwards are featured on the standard edition of the game. The Deluxe Edition of College Football 25 has even more players, including Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, shown from behind with their names emblazoned on their jerseys.

According to Extra Points’ Matt Brown, over 12,800 student athletes opted to be in the game, receiving a compensation of $600 and a copy of the game, according to EA when the game was announced in 2021. EA told ESPN in February that there will be other NIL opportunities for student-athletes with EA, including “social media posts, on-campus promotions, advertisements or even being the game’s cover athlete.”

Presentation and Broadcast Experience

Mirroring the real-life broadcasts of college football games, College Football 25 will feature two sets of announcers. For marquee matchups, ESPN’s Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit will have the call. Every other game will feature the trio of Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, and David Pollack.

Additionally, EA Sports promises to capture the traditions and pageantry of college football, as seen in the opening moments of Friday’s gameplay trailer. “With unique team run-outs, rivalry rituals, synchronized crowd-chants, loudness meters as well as real game-day audio, fight songs and, of course, mascots, it’ll feel like home everywhere you look,” EA said in a release Friday.

Game Editions and Pricing

Standard Edition: $69.99
Deluxe Edition: $99.99
MVP Bundle: $149.99

What's Included in Each Edition?

Deluxe Edition

Players that purchase the Deluxe Edition will receive 4,600 College Football Points and a Heisman Hopeful Ultimate Team Pack, available only to pre orders made prior to June 27. The deluxe edition will feature 4600 “College Football Points”, Heisman Hopeful Ultimate Team Pack, Alma Mater Ultimate Team Pack, Cover Athlete Ultimate Team Pack, and a Bring Glory Home Ultimate Team Uniform Item.

Read also: Crafting Your NCAA Profile

MVP Bundle

The MVP Bundle is basically the deluxe edition of College Football 25 combined with a copy of the upcoming Madden NFL 25 release, as well. The MVP Bundle will give players the Deluxe Edition of both College Football 25 and Madden 25, which will release in mid-August. It also gives players three-day early access to Madden.

Pre-Order Bonuses

This promotional offer expires upon release of EA SPORTS College Football 25. Good only for new purchases of EA SPORTS College Football 25 (“Product”) at participating retailers. You must redeem your single-use code (if a code is required), log into the game, and log into Ultimate Team mode while connected to EA servers (together these steps are referred to as “redeem”) to access pre-order content (Alma Mater Ultimate Team Pack [Choice of 1 out of 134 player items]; Cover Athlete Ultimate Team Pack [choice of 1 of 3 player items]; and Bring Glory Home Ultimate Team Uniform Item). All pre-order content for use with one EA account and is non-transferrable. All player items and packs for use in College Football Ultimate Team (“CUT”). All CUT player items are non-auctionable and non-tradeable. CUT items also may require logging into the CUT in-game store. Some content may require gameplay to unlock. Access to content may require registration with a single-use code. Consult your retailer for distribution details. Pre-order content will not be available if you redeem after July 19, 2025. Offer has no cash value and may not be substituted, exchanged, or sold for cash, goods, or services. May not be combined with other offers or prepaid card redeemable for the applicable content unless expressly authorized by EA. Customer is responsible for applicable sales tax. Acceptance of EA User Agreement (terms.ea.com) and Privacy & Cookie Policy (privacy.ea.com) required to play. Internet connection required. EA and applicable platform accounts may be required for online features and/or pre-order content. Age restrictions apply. See o.ea.com/ea/child-access and applicable platform account for details. Mandatory content updates may be downloaded automatically, require additional storage, incur bandwidth usage fees, and require an additional purchase to access. EA may retire online features with 30 days notice at ea.com/service-updates.

This promotional offer expires June 27, 2024 11:59 pm Eastern Time. Good only for new purchases of EA SPORTS College Football 25 Deluxe Edition (“Product”) at participating retailers. You must redeem your single-use code (if a code is required), log into the game, and log into Ultimate Team mode while connected to EA servers (together these steps are referred to as “redeem”) to access pre-order & Deluxe Edition content (Heisman Hopeful Ultimate Team Pack [Choice of 1 out of 5 Player Items]; Alma Mater Ultimate Team Pack [Choice of 1 out of 134 player items]; Cover Athlete Ultimate Team Pack [choice of 1 of 3 player items]; Bring Glory Home Ultimate Team Uniform Item; 4600 College Football Points; and up to 3 days early access to Product). All pre-order & Deluxe Edition content for use with one EA account and is non-transferrable. All player items and packs for use in College Football Ultimate Team (“CUT”). All CUT player items are non-auctionable and non-tradeable. CUT items may also require logging into the CUT in-game store. Some content may require gameplay to unlock. Access to content may require registration with a single-use code. Consult your retailer for distribution details. For retail preorders, see retailer for early access distribution details and pick-up time. For digital pre-orders, Product will be available to download once early access period begins on July 15, 2024 4:00 pm Eastern Time. Early access will not be available if you redeem after July 18, 2024. All other pre-order content will not be available if you redeem after July 19, 2025. Offer has no cash value and may not be substituted, exchanged, or sold for cash, goods, or services. May not be combined with other offers or prepaid card redeemable for the applicable content unless expressly authorized by EA. Customer is responsible for applicable sales tax. Acceptance of EA User Agreement (terms.ea.com) and Privacy & Cookie Policy (privacy.ea.com) required to play. Internet connection required. EA and applicable platform accounts may be required for online features, Deluxe Edition and/or pre-order content. Age restrictions apply. See o.ea.com/ea/child-access and applicable platform account for details. Mandatory content updates may be downloaded automatically, require additional storage, incur bandwidth usage fees, and require an additional purchase to access. EA may retire online features with 30 days notice at ea.com/service-updates.

This promotional offer expires upon release of EA SPORTS College Football 25. Good only for new purchases of EA SPORTS College Football 25 Deluxe Edition (“Product”) at participating retailers. You must redeem your single-use code (if a code is required), log into the game, and log into Ultimate Team mode while connected to EA servers (together these steps are referred to as “redeem”) to access pre-order & Deluxe Edition content (Alma Mater Ultimate Team Pack [Choice of 1 out of 134 player items]; Cover Athlete Ultimate Team Pack [choice of 1 of 3 player items]; Bring Glory Home Ultimate Team Uniform Item; 4600 College Football Points; and up to 3 days early access to Product). All pre-order & Deluxe Edition content for use with one EA account and is non-transferrable. All player items and packs for use in College Football Ultimate Team (“CUT”). All CUT player items are non-auctionable and non-tradeable. CUT items may also require logging into the CUT in-game store. Some content may require gameplay to unlock. Access to content may require registration with a single-use code. Consult your retailer for distribution details. For retail preorders, see retailer for early access distribution details and pick-up time. For digital pre-orders, Product will be available to download once early access period begins on July 15, 2024 4:00 pm Eastern Time. Early access will not be available if you redeem after July 18, 2024. All other pre-order content will not be available if you redeem after July 19, 2025. Offer has no cash value and may not be substituted, exchanged, or sold for cash, goods, or services. May not be combined with other offers or prepaid card redeemable for the applicable content unless expressly authorized by EA. Customer is responsible for applicable sales tax. Acceptance of EA User Agreement (terms.ea.com) and Privacy & Cookie Policy (privacy.ea.com) required to play. Internet connection required. EA and applicable platform accounts may be required for online features, Deluxe Edition and/or pre-order content. Age restrictions apply. See o.ea.com/ea/child-access and applicable platform account for details. Mandatory content updates may be downloaded automatically, require additional storage, incur bandwidth usage fees, and require an additional purchase to access. EA may retire online features with 30 days notice at ea.com/service-updates.

Gameplay Details

On May 31, EA Sports released a YouTube video with a deep dive into gameplay for College Football 25, the long-awaited new installment of the video game franchise. In the video, ESPN announcer Kirk Herbstreit details several aspects of the game include in-game wear and tear on players, homefield advantage and playbooks unique to each school. Florida, Florida State and Miami are among the teams shown. In addition, a blogpost outlining aspects of the advanced gameplay also landed.

Key Gameplay Features

Dynasty Mode: Create your own head coach and take a current program to the playoff.
Wear & Tear System: As the hits add up, players wear down.
Pre-Snap Recognition: Makes the decision behind every snap matter more.
Homefield Advantage: Game-altering homefield advantages rattle your rivals in college football's toughest places to play.

Game Modes

Dynasty Mode: Create a coach, take control, upgrade their abilities and build a powerhouse college football program.
Road To Glory: Live the life of a student-athlete with your created player and take home the Heisman as you build an unforgettable college football legacy.
Ultimate Team: Build your dream team of college football stars and legends. Play Solo Challenges or H2H Seasons to upgrade your squad and take on the toughest contests.

Teams and Availability

All 134 FBS teams will be featured in the game, although every player will not be. All 135 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams will be available to use in College Football 25. That includes Florida State, the University of Florida, Miami, UCF, USF, FIU and FAU.

PC: The game will not be available for PC.
PS4: While College Football 25 will be available for PS5, it will not be released for PS4.
XBox One: What about XBox Series X? While College Football 25 will be available for XBOX X|S, it will not be released for XBox One.

Toughest Places to Play

EA Sports' list of the top 25 toughest places to play for the upcoming game:

Texas A&M: Kyle Field
Alabama: Bryant-Denny Stadium
LSU: Tiger Stadium
Ohio State: Ohio Stadium
Georgia: Sanford Stadium
Penn State: Beaver Stadium
Wisconsin: Camp Randall Stadium
Oklahoma: Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
Florida State: Doak Campbell Stadium
Florida: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Oregon: Autzen Stadium
Clemson: Memorial Stadium
Tennessee: Neyland Stadium
Auburn: Jordan-Hare Stadium
South Carolina: Williams-Brice Stadium
Michigan: Michigan Stadium
Virginia Tech: Lane Stadium
Utah: Rice-Eccles Stadium
Texas: Darrell K. Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium
Iowa: Kinnick Stadium
Notre Dame: Notre Dame Stadium
Michigan State: Spartan Stadium
Arkansas: Donald W.

Legal and Licensing Hurdles

Following the release of the series' previous entry in 2013, Electronic Arts (EA) settled a lawsuit brought by former college football players who argued their name, image and, likeness (NIL) were used without permission or compensation. Initially, player names and likenesses were not to be included in the game. Because of this, several schools, including Notre Dame, Tulane and Northwestern refused to join the game until NIL rules were finalized. EA Sports responded by stating "player name, image and likeness is not currently planned for the game. However, we are watching the developments in this area closely and are prepared to take steps to include players should that opportunity arise." At the time, the NCAA had delayed and not voted on new NIL rules, but over two dozen states had either passed or proposed laws so that institutions couldn't enforce the NCAA's NIL rules. The 2021 United States Supreme Court case NCAA. v.

A Long-Awaited Return

On November 22, 2022, in an interview with ESPN.com's Michael Rothstein, EA Sports vice president and general manager Daryl Holt stated that Electronic Arts would release the game sometime in summer 2024. "That's the best date for us to bring the game that we think is going to meet or exceed our player expectations…and cover the breadth and scale of what we want in the game. On February 22, 2024, EA Sports announced that all 134 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs would be featured in EA Sports College Football 25 but the 128 Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) programs would not be included at launch. That same day, ESPN's lead college football commentary team of Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit announced that they would be featured as commentators. Herbstreit was a commentator in EA's original NCAA Football series until its hiatus after NCAA Football 14. A 21-minute gameplay trailer was premiered on July 8, 2024, featuring YouTuber Bordeaux and cover athlete Donovan Edwards. They played two games, with Edwards winning both with raw gameplay being revealed soon after. As well as the trailer, the day after, an Ultimate Team Deep Dive was posted. On July 12, 2024, YouTubers and Twitch Streamers who are in EA's Creator Network program got access to a nearly final edition of the game, in which rebuilds, player careers, and raw gameplay were shortly uploaded and streamed on YouTube, Twitch, and other platforms.

Licensed Music

Other licensed music appearing in College Football 25 includes "Sandstorm", "Mo Bamba", "Kernkraft 400", "Welcome to the Jungle", "Wave on Wave", and an instrumental of "Talkin' Out the Side of Your Neck".

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