EA Sports College Football 25: A Deep Dive into the Highly Anticipated Return

After an 11-year hiatus, EA Sports has revived its college football video game series, formerly known as NCAA Football, with the release of EA Sports College Football 25. This new installment promises an immersive and authentic college football experience, catering to both longtime fans of the series and newcomers alike. The game aims to capture the unique atmosphere, traditions, and gameplay nuances that define college football.

The Road to Release: Overcoming Hurdles and Building Anticipation

The journey to College Football 25's release was not without its challenges. Following the series' previous entry in 2013, Electronic Arts settled a lawsuit brought by former college football players who argued their name, image, and likeness (NIL) were used without permission or compensation. This legal battle led to the initial discontinuation of the series.

However, with the evolving landscape of NIL regulations in college sports, EA Sports saw an opportunity to revive the beloved franchise. In November 2022, EA Sports announced that the game would be released in the summer of 2024. This announcement was met with widespread excitement from fans eager to return to the virtual gridiron.

NIL and Player Inclusion

Initially, player names and likenesses were not planned for the game due to NIL concerns. Several schools, including Notre Dame, Tulane, and Northwestern, initially declined to participate until NIL rules were finalized. However, EA Sports remained committed to finding a solution, stating they were "prepared to take steps to include players should that opportunity arise."

Ultimately, EA Sports successfully navigated the NIL landscape, ensuring that real FBS players could be included in the game. By March 2024, over 10,000 athletes had signed up to be featured in College Football 25. This commitment to authenticity and player representation has been a key factor in the game's positive reception.

FBS Schools and Commentary Team

On February 22, 2024, EA Sports announced that all 134 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs would be featured in EA Sports College Football 25. However, 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.

Editions and Pre-Order Bonuses

EA Sports College Football 25 is available in multiple editions, including a Deluxe Edition and an MVP Bundle, each offering unique content and bonuses.

Standard Edition

The standard edition includes the base game and pre-order bonuses, such as:

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

Deluxe Edition

The Deluxe Edition includes the base game and pre-order bonuses, such as:

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
Up to 3 days early access to Product

MVP Bundle

The MVP Bundle includes:

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MADDEN NFL 25 Deluxe Edition
COLLEGE FOOTBALL 25 Deluxe Edition
4600 Madden Points
4600 College Football Points
Breakouts Player Pack
Extra Credit Pack
Elite MUT Item

Gameplay and Features

College Football 25 aims to deliver an authentic and immersive college football experience through its gameplay and features. The game includes iconic atmospheres, explosive gameplay, and a variety of game modes.

Iconic Atmospheres

The game features iconic atmospheres and authentic soundscapes that fully immerse players inside legendary stadiums. From The Big House to The Swamp, from Tuscaloosa to College Station, the game includes all their iconic rituals and traditions. EA Sports went through more than 1,000 photos per school to create 150 different stadiums. The student sections are positioned correctly, and those fans will be seen standing during the game. Opposing fans and bands are also positioned in the correct spots in stadiums.

Explosive Gameplay

CampusIQ offers an authentic, fast-paced college football experience, featuring an all-new composure system, player Wear & Tear, homefield advantages, and dozens of diverse playstyles across all 134 FBS teams. The game has new physics-based tackling, based on where and how hard a hit is made, that looks much more realistic than Madden 24. Breaking tackles or falling forward through them becomes more likely if you follow blockers correctly.

The passing game is revamped, as is kicking. As the quarterback, the ability to layer the football is the key. When you throw the ball, a meter appears above the receiver, similar to an option in Madden 24. Obviously, tapping or holding a button creates the difference between a floater and a rocket, but holding the button as long as you can to the end of the meter can impact the throw’s accuracy.

The same goes for kicking. The new meter has a ball rock left and right; you click and hold to get the accuracy, and then the power meter goes up the arrow. If you hold it to the very top into the red, the accuracy can take a hit.

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Dynasty Mode

College Football 25's Dynasty mode allows players to control a college football program for a maximum of thirty years. The recruiting process includes DMing players, contacting their friends and family, tooling around in the transfer portal, and scheduling campus visits. As someone who's sick enough to have loved the boardroom immersion of NFL Head Coach, College Football 25's reimagining of the mode is exceptional.

Road to Glory

In "Road to Glory," you can create a player and win a whole lot of Heisman trophies.

Ultimate Team

"Ultimate Team" has all of the legends we never (virtually) met over the past 11 years.

Playbooks and Pre-Snap Options

College Football 25 has 134 different playbooks, part of 10 different offensive styles. The RPO options include four different kinds of plays: read, peek, alert, and glance. You can choose to throw a quick pass instead of hand off, but you have to do it quickly, or else you’ll be hit with an illegal man downfield penalty.

The capabilities players enjoy before the snap have also grown. You can adjust pass protection to go in a certain direction, an improved process from Madden 24. When calling a hot route, custom stems allow you to adjust how far downfield you want an out route to go. Senior quarterbacks can see more than freshmen, like the possibility of a blitz or a certain kind of defense.

There are also custom playbooks and custom audibles. There’s also a two-minute warning, which will be new to college football this fall. Stadium Pulse is also back, and you can feel the loudest stadiums in the vibrating controller. As in the past, the play art on the field could be difficult to read, and audibles and hot routes may not work, depending on the crowd.

Sounds and Visuals

The pageantry and the environments are what really separate college football from every other sport, and the video game reflects that. There are 16,000 different head combinations for players, including 240 shapes. The average team has four helmets, three jerseys, and three pants. Some have 20-plus options (hello, Oregon). You can see all the individual stitching in the jerseys because EA Sports employs a Creaform 3D handheld scanner that’s normally used for aerospace parts. Here, it’s used to scan cleats, gloves, helmets, jerseys and more, down to the tiniest detail. While NFL players have mostly the same equipment, college football has different apparel companies with unique designs. Those differences are noticeable in this game.

The crowds are also unique. Michigan fans have the maize pom-poms. Missouri fans have the tiger tails. There are unique hand signs and Surrender Cobras.

What makes this game feel as real as anything is the sound. Every school has unique fan chants, as EA acquired thousands of assets from schools and in many cases had staff members replicate the cheers for recording. The studio also recorded 41 real game crowds over the last two years, from big to small programs.

Authenticity and Details

EA Sports has paid close attention to detail in College Football 25, capturing the unique traditions and quirks of each school. For example, the game includes "The Meow," a mechanical noise that resembles a panther's roar, played at Pitt games. This level of attention to detail extends to the stadiums, crowd chants, and team-specific traditions.

Schools were invited to submit unique details of their stadium experience to EA.

Accessibility Features

Before you play this game, we want to make sure your accessibility onboarding goes smoothly. Being an in-depth simulation experience, players can expect a variety of different game modes each tailored to a specific and unique College Football experience. Customizable gameplay parameters are supported for rules, difficulty, and AI behavior. During the bootflow, players will be presented with Menu Narration and other accessibility settings. Within these menus, players can turn off screen shake, remove motion blur, apply full-screen colorblind filters, and make icons larger. Though control remapping is not available, players can customize certain kicking and passing styles.

What's Not Included

Mascot mode is not in the game. Players do not have X-Factors like in past Madden games. Online Dynasty mode cannot be played across consoles, but that and Mascot mode could come in future games.

You will not be able to edit the attributes of real-life players in the rosters. You can edit created players, but there supposedly will be blocks to keep you from making a player like Arch Manning, who did not opt into the game.

Reception and Legacy

College Football 25 has been met with positive reviews, with critics praising its gameplay, authenticity, and attention to detail. The game has been lauded for capturing the unique atmosphere and traditions of college football, as well as its engaging Dynasty mode and Road to Glory features.

While most sports video games are just updates from the year before, College Football 25 is a completely new game. Pretty much nothing from NCAA 14 could carry over, and the final edition of NCAA is now two console generations behind (College Football 25 will only be available on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S). The entire process of building this game will have taken more than four years, but it creates the foundation moving forward.

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