By Carter Hepp

This summer, a moment many sports fans have been waiting for will finally happen. After 11 years, the NCAA Football video game franchise will be making its return with the release of College Football 25. Plenty has changed within the video game industry since the last edition of the game came out in 2013, including graphics, player mechanics, game modes, and more. Here is the official trailer. 

College Football 25 video game logo.

Before we talk about what is coming in the new game, let’s start off with some background information on the most recent game. As outlined in Peyton Dunn’s (‘24) December 2023 Match article, the game was developed and published by EA Sports, developer of the most famous sports video games, and it was a massive hit among college football fans and video game enjoyers, selling over 1.5 million copies. Even with the game being quite popular, it all had to be shut down in 2013 due to lawsuits that accused EA Sports of not paying for player likenesses. The college players felt like they needed to be paid for being in the game, but the NCAA disagreed. Any player who received payment from EA would be severely punished, even up to expulsion from school. The players association told EA that they would sue the creators of the game if not given any kind of compensation. EA and the NCAA never came to an agreement, and after that the players sued, denying EA the right to use their names. 

In the newest version of the game, every FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) school from the previous game has been confirmed to be back in the new game, including all teams from the ACC, SEC, AAC, Big-12, Big Ten, MAC, MWC, Pac-12, and SBC. Division 1-A FBS independents—Army, Notre Dame, UConn, and UMass—will also be included in this list. The teams in the FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) will not be included when the game is launched but could be added as post-launch content.

Second, well-respected ESPN commentators Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit have been announced to be the in-game commentators. ESPN studio host Kevin Conners and game analysts Jesse Palmer and David Pollack are also expected to be involved with this year’s game. Fowler and Herbstreit are college football’s number one broadcast team and are fan favorites as well. This will be Fowler’s first year as the play-by-play announcer, and Herbstreit will join him on what will be his 14th year with the franchise. Herbstreit and Fowler are known to be electric; here is a video of Herbstreit and Fowler’s reaction to Alabama’s win over Auburn at the end of the 2023 Iron Bowl.

The game will be coming out on the regular Electronic Arts platforms: Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. It will not be released for older consoles, such as PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Additionally, nothing has been said about releasing it on Nintendo Switch or for PCs. One tremendous feature in the upcoming game that was not in previous games is the fact that, for players who opt-in, their names will be included. Previously, players were only recognized by position and number. Any player that opts in will be granted $600 and a free copy of the game from EA, courtesy of relatively new NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) policies. 

College Football 25 cover.

The cover athlete, the player(s) who appears on the cover of the game box and the digital version, was a hot topic after the game was announced. Matt Brown, one of Extra Point’s sports analysts, reported on April 29 that the game would have multiple cover athletes, per Bleacher Report. It was believed that the cover athletes would feature current players, rather than past NCAA legends. The players selected would likely be from different Power Five conferences. Notable players that were contenders for this year’s cover were Travis Hunter, wide receiver and defensive back for Colorado; Jalen Milroe, quarterback for Alabama; and Quinn Ewers, quarterback for Texas.

On May 16, the official cover of the game was released, with Hunter, Ewers, and Michigan running back Donovan Edwards. There has been a leak on the PlayStation Store showing the cover of the Deluxe Edition version of the game, which EA has also confirmed. The Deluxe Edition cover features Edwards, Ewers,  Hunter, Milroe, Georgia’s Carson Beck, and Ole Miss’s Quinshon Judkins. Being featured on the cover of a video game is the dream of many kids growing up, so I’m sure the players listed above are honored to be on the cover of such a popular game.

Finally, the game’s price will start at $70 for the standard edition, $100 for the Deluxe edition, and $150 for the MVP edition. Seeing those prices may shock you, as $150 is plenty for a video game, but, surprisingly, what’s included in the MVP edition is a great deal. If you play Madden 25 and College Football 25, the MVP edition would be a great pick-up. With this, you get the deluxe edition of both Madden 25 and College Football 25. The deluxe edition of College Football 25 includes exclusive player and uniform packs, three-day early access (the official release date is July 19), as well as 4,600 “college football points,” the in-game currency used in the Ultimate Team mode. Madden 25 will have the same rewards granted, and its official release date is August 13.

All images courtesy of EA Sports.