College Football and video game fans waited 11 years for another EA NCAA Football game to be released. On Friday, all their dreams came true as EA released College Football 25. Name, Image and Likeness — where college athletes can now be paid by companies who use their likeness — changed the game for EA.
Previously, EA could not release another game since the studio could not pay players for their appearance in video games due to NCAA rules.
The game has taken the football and gaming world by storm, as more than 2.2 million people already played the game during the early access period before the launch. Even though it was still early access, the game was ranked third in terms of U.S. daily active users on the Xbox series and 4th on PS5, according to Circana’s Player Engagement Tracker.
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So, what is all the hype about? We chose the five best features of College Football 25 to explain the madness that EA created.
Iconic atmospheres
More than 150 stadiums across 134 schools are included in CFB 25. EA designed the game “with the philosophy that every team is somebody’s favorite,” ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit said in a trailer for the game.
So every school was accounted for when creating team traditions and atmospheres in the game. EA partnered with ESPN to capture crowd reaction audio from broadcasted games. The traditions include organized crowd themes, specific chants and fight songs, and hand motions.
For example, Penn State’s whiteout crowd, one of the best atmospheres in any sport, is complimented with real audio to capture the true nature of a game at Beaver Stadium in Happy Valley. Rutgers fans, meanwhile, are seen doing the Chop hand motion, a tradition for Rutgers football.
Traditions
Sticking to the game day theme, many team traditions are included in CFB 25. Team run-outs, rivalry rituals, mascots, touchdown traditions, and more add to the already electric game day atmosphere. During team intros, EA researched and implemented every team’s ritual.
The game includes the touching of signs, human tunnels created by cheerleaders and marching bands, and pyrotechnics. Mascots doing pushups on a board? Planting flags? Riding motorcycles? A buffalo sprinting down the field? CFB 25 has it all to ensure fans feel right at home.
Dynasty: Recruiting
In Dynasty, players take over a program by creating a coach and building the team into a national powerhouse. The details in this game mode are deep, especially in recruiting. At the start of each season, players can evaluate their needs for talent before recruiting from a pool of over 3,500 high school recruits each season.
Aligning team pitches to a recruit’s desires is detrimental to recruiting. The transfer portal adds another challenge to players trying to build a roster. Players can set up school visits at the perfect time, contact friends and family, and even slide into the DMs of recruits to rise in their rankings!
Dynasty: Customization
Conference realignment shook up the college football landscape. In Dynasty, players can create custom conferences, from 20-team power conferences to the original conference alignment. Divisions, custom conference rules, and more can change within the game.
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Team Builder
EA created a Team Builder website where players can create custom teams and import them into their dynasty. Players can choose their program’s name, nickname, uniform provider, logos, and team colors. Then, players choose from 625 uniform combinations with five uniform presets available.
Helmet decorations options can get as detailed as the reflectiveness of the facemask and the option of matte, shiny, or chrome as the base. Players can add up to seven custom layers for helmets. For jerseys, players select from Adidas, Nike, or Under Armour as their apparel brand.
Layers are available on the jersey asset as well, so players can put their own design anywhere on the jersey. Lastly, home stadiums can be customized. Eight components of the stadium can be set: crowd, logos, end zone, stadium, surface, benches, numbers, and sidelines. Crowd and field colors can adjust, along with the logos on the field.
Gameplay
CFB 25 balances a quicker tempo with solid defense. Players can switch to different defenders fast with the right stick to account for the high speed offense. There are 80 different player abilities, similar to superstar abilities in other games.
EA introduced a new mechanic called “Wear and Tear” in the game, where players wear down as they take more hits and run more throughout the game.
A new kicking meter is also in the game, where the speed and difficulty increase in unfriendly environments and distances.
