The wait is over.
For the first time in over a decade, a new college football video game is available for everyone to play.
EA College Football 25 is the first college football game since EA NCAA Football 14 was released in 2013. The long-anticipated video game has fans around the country talking about it as it has been the most prominent sports story for the last several years.
After a UCLA basketball player in 2009 filed a class action lawsuit against Electronic Arts for not compensating student-athletes for their name, image, and likeness (NIL), it created ripple effects for how the continuation of the college games will occur.
Following court hearings and legal actions, the NCAA suspended its licensing with EA and discontinued the college video games (football and basketball).
Once the NIL rule came into full effect in 2021, EA posted on all of its social media accounts, “For those who never stopped believing. College Football is coming back.”
The millions of interactions and engagement it received were unprecedented and only explained the passion of everyone who missed the video game.
It became available on July 19 for everyone to play, and the hype was all worth it. The student-athletes who opted into the video game to showcase their name, image, and likeness received NIL deals for being in the game. The baseline compensation for those in the game is $600 and a copy of the game.
This also includes more lucrative NIL deals and opportunities in the future.
Over 10,000 players opted in to be included in EA Sports’ College Football 25 video game, and Florida State wide receiver Kentron Poitier talked about how it feels that it’s back.
“It feels good to be in the game,” Poitier said. “It is something I couldn’t image, but I really haven’t played with myself yet, but the time I did it was fun.”
Poitier is a redshirt senior at FSU and is poised for a great year under head coach Mike Norvell. He was voted FSU’s Offensive Most Improved Player in 2022 and recorded four receptions for 84 yards in the Orange Bowl vs. No. 6 Georgia.
When talking about how realistic the game is to what he has experienced, he believes EA did an excellent job simulating that for the fans.
“The game gives it somewhat of a college atmosphere especially with the rivalry games and how loud the stadium gets,” Poitier said. “Trying to make an audible at the line of scrimmage is hard when the stadium is loud, so it’s realistic in that case for sure.”
Garret Price, who played the old college football games, posted his thoughts on the new game on X (formerly known as Twitter).
“Now that I am an adult with a wife, 2 kids, a job and other adult responsibilities… I stayed up till 4 am playing College Football 25.”
Kirk Herbstreit is known for being one of, or the voice of, college football. He talked about the significance of the video game and what to expect as he is included in EA College Football 25.
“I thought it’s always done a really good job at capturing, as you see here with what they released, the traditions of the sport, the uniforms, the marching bands, the stadiums, just all of it,” Herbstreit said on the Pat McAfee Show. “So, I think they’re taking that to another level after being out for ten years and coming back.”
The sights and sounds of the video game are second to none. Between the atmospheres at “The Big House” (Michigan’s stadium), Doak Campbell Stadium, “Death Valley” at LSU, and playing in a white-out game at Penn State, to the new and cool college uniforms of Oregon, Ole Miss, and more, EA made this game seem almost real.
The marching bands even paly their schools’ fight songs.
Quarterbacks like Quinn Ewers, Shedeur Sanders, Cameron Ward, Arch Manning, and more are in the game. The college football superstars are in the game as fans can now see and dominate with them.
The video game has been thriving since its release.
