We’re roughly a month away from EA’s full reveal of EA Sports College Football 25, which means it’s time we put up our “living document” that will be updated as we get more info about EA’s college football reboot. Most of what’s written here will be subject to change for now, but anything you need to know about EA Sports College Football 25 will be found here as we learn more and more in the weeks ahead.
EA Sports College Football 25 Release Date And FAQ
EA will not confirm anything as of yet, but all signs do point to a July release date as of now. Everyone from Kirk Herbstreit (returning to do commentary once more for the series) to EA itself has pointed at a Summer window for the game that likely means mid-July. Back in the day, this is when NCAA Football would come out, and it fits in nicely as it gives the college game about a month or so before the new Madden comes out.
FAQ
Because we’re still waiting for so much information, it’s best to probably try to answer or at least “ballpark” various questions that are asked a lot on the site and forums.
Will we be able to edit and share rosters?
Yes and no as of now. We know over 10,000 athletes opted in to EA Sports College Football 25 within two weeks of EA sending out paperwork to make it happen. That number has likely grown since then, but we know certain players will opt out, and a key one who made that decision early on was Arch Manning. The framing there was not about money but rather about not being a distraction, but others will fall into this bucket as well.
EA’s SVP Daryl Holt has said “if a player chooses to not be included in the game, he will not be able to be created in the game by users.” Holt did not make it clear how that will happen, and so while we know we can create players — Road to Glory is almost assuredly going to be in the game, for example — we’re not sure what restrictions will be in place when it comes to editing or sharing rosters as of now.
Either way, EA is doing likenesses for many of these players, and while they can’t do full-on scans of everyone like they do for Madden, it does seem like the art team will try to mimic the look of these college players.
Who will be doing commentary? Will ESPN College GameDay integration return?
Kirk Herbstreit, Chris Fowler, David Pollack, Jesse Palmer, Kevin Connors, Rece Davis, and Desmond Howard have all officially announced they will be voices in the game. That’s a lot of ESPN names, and it leads to the question about whether ESPN integration will return as well. That is unclear because EA and ESPN no longer have the same licensing agreement they had back in the day when NBA Live and NCAA Football both had tons of ESPN integration. At the very least, it seems like we’ll either get multiple broadcast teams or some sort of team that exists mostly for pregame/halftime segments.
I’m not sure if we’ll get full-on ESPN College GameDay integration and highlights from other games and all that stuff that existed back in NCAA Football 14 in year one, but we’ll have to wait and see.
What’s going on with licensing beyond the players?
All 134 FBS schools will be in the game, and we’re going to get a lot of music, chants, and other goodies you would expect from a college football game. This seems like the area where EA has done the most to try and get as much stuff licensed as possible in terms of jerseys, stadiums, and all that good stuff. It’s likely the “easiest” licensing to do in this new world everyone is trying to figure out with college sports games.
In terms of awards, we know the Heisman Trophy will be in the game but most of the other awards will not be in the game. I’m not sure if EA will do generic awards in place of things like the Bednarik Award, but that’s all we know for now.
Will we be able to import draft classes from EA Sports College Football 25 into Madden?
No word here, and I think it could be dicey since I’m not sure if the licensing agreements EA has with players would allow them to then be in Madden. It seems like a murky area that EA would not want to deal with in year one.
Game Modes
It’s clear that dynasty mode and Ultimate Team will be in the game. The way EA has hinted at things, it also seems like Road to Glory will be there as well. Ultimate Team was obviously not as major a thing in NCAA Football 14 as it has become these days. It’s likely EA will lean on former college players as well here, likely double dipping with the legends agreements they already have in place with the NFL to get players back in their old college jerseys.
EA is using the Madden engine as a starting point for this game (both football games are being made at the same studio like in the old days), so I would figure online dynasty mode will also make it into the game since online franchise mode in Madden exists.
Whether or not other old modes like Mascot mode etc. make it in is unclear at this time.
Gameplay
Again, all we know for now is Madden and EA Sports College Football will share an engine. Back in the day, this was also the case, but it did not mean both games did not feel different then, and so it’s likely they’ll still feel different now. Personally, I think playbooks will be the biggest thing to watch here since that’s been a growing issue in Madden and the college game really needs to feel different in that regard.
When Will We Know More?
EA has said look for a “full reveal” in May.
Until then, we’ll update this if we see anything new. Otherwise, the hype train will be leaving the station in May.
