EA Sports has recently announced that its long-awaited College Football 25 game is out on July 19. The last game that EA Sports released for college football was back in 2013, but according to Sports Illustrated it had to halt the series due to NCAA rules that center around player likeness and profitability.
As seen on the EA website, the game comes in three separate versions, ranging from $70 to $150. Each version provides players with more perks for different modes depending on the version they buy.
The game includes all 134 Football Bowl Subdivision schools and plans to add more schools from outside that zone as the season progresses. As seen in the gameplay deep dive from the official EA Sports YouTube channel, players can view all the teams currently available.
One key part of the trailer that will excite Utes fans is the glimpse of the “Holy War,” or the match that the Utah Utes will play the BYU Cougars in. In addition, players have the option to choose a uniform, just like in EA Sports’ NFL version of the game — Madden. They have also updated all conferences since the riddance of the Pac-12, with the Utes moving to Big 12, with team rosters yet to be finalized.
There are many considerable improvements in the game, with one of the main aspects being graphics. Since EA CFB’s last appearance in 2013, the industry has had plenty of time to develop. The game originally came out on Xbox 360 and PS3, whereas the new generation of consoles brought new additions from the Xbox One and PS4 to the Xbox Series X and PS5. With that, the potential for graphics has changed. Players can see more vivid changes and details when it comes to stadium details and views. Efforts were also made to keep beloved crowd and player traditions the same in order to maintain the college atmosphere, which is an integral part of the experience.
The gameplay has changed significantly as EA is trying to make the game as “hyper-realistic” as possible. One of the new features is “Wear and Tear” in which players receive more of a nerf if they are doing hard work in the game or are taking too many shots.
For example, according to the official website, if a quarterback’s arm gets hit, players can expect his throw power and pass accuracy to lessen.
One key feature that was added is players can now choose from athletes with over 80 possible abilities. These abilities are all different for each position and each player can have a different amount. In the traditional EA Football game, there are X-Factors players can have that can take over a game. In CFB 25, these abilities don’t necessarily do the same thing and can also be randomized depending on the player. These abilities range from being calm at an away game, being able to pass rush, being more accurate on passing, etc.
Another realistic feature worth mentioning is the home field advantage. As stated earlier, some players have more of an advantage compared to others when it comes to this ability. It also depends on the stadium they are in — for example, a freshman quarterback is going to be more nervous than a Heisman-winning junior when it comes to an away game. This leads to the nerves kicking in which results in misreads, more inaccuracy and so on. The home team also can get louder with a simple button flick. With a stadium pulse meter as well, things can get very loud.
EA Sports College Football 25 is set to break into the industry of sports gaming once again and set a new bar for others to compete against. By blending all of the college’s cultures and traditions and presenting them in hyper-realism, players can see that the game is ready to embrace this new community despite all the talk about another “Madden reskin.” EA’s College Football is back, and better than ever.