What you need to know
- EA Sports College Football 25 launched on Friday, July 19 on Xbox Series X|S and PS5, and is already a top seller in the US.
- Mat Piscatella, executive director and video game industry advisor at market researcher Circana, announced on July 17 that the game had soared to the #3 spot for Xbox daily active users and #4 for PS5 — and that was while it was in early access, days before it launched for everyone.
- EA Sports College Football 25 is the first new college football game in over 11 years, with the last being 2013's NCAA Football 14 on Xbox 360 and PS3.
- The lack of new college football games was due to legal troubles in which EA and the NCAA faced a lawsuit from football players arguing their likeness was used in NCAA Football 14 without compensation. A 2021 Supreme Court decision and the resulting new NCAA compensation policies allowed EA to once again make a college football title with the likeness of players in it.
One of the most highly anticipated sports games in history, EA Sports College Football 25, is finally here — and it's already become a top seller on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5.
That news comes from Mat Piscatella, executive director and video game industry advisor at the market research firm Circana. According to a recent post from Piscatella, data from Circana's Player Engagement Tracker indicates that on July 17, the game ranked #3 in US daily active users on Xbox and #4 on PS5, with the megahit only falling short of titles like Call of Duty, Fortnite, and Grand Theft Auto V.
Notably, this data was drawn before the game even left early access and launched for everyone who purchased the game on Friday. That means the players who helped EA Sports College Football 25 hit this milestone were all folks who spent $100 to preorder the Deluxe Edition of the game — and also that its daily active users count will likely skyrocket even higher now that buyers of the standard $69.99 edition can jump in.
Historically, sports games have always been popular, but even with that in mind, the explosive success of EA Sports College Football 25 stands out. There's a good reason for it, though: there hasn't been a college football video game in over 11 years, with the last before this one being 2013's NCAA Football 14 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. That makes publisher Electronic Arts' (EA) new game a uniquely special release, and one that fans have waited more than a decade for.
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The reason behind the hiatus is a legal one; after NCAA Football 14's release, EA and its licensing partner, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), faced a lawsuit from college football players who argued their likeness was used in the game without compensation. As part of its settlement, EA said it wouldn't make new college football games, but after the US Supreme Court ruled the NCAA's tendency to avoid fiscal compensation was a breach of antitrust law in the 2021 NCAA v. Alston case, the NCAA created new rules for likeness compensation. In 2023, EA then spoke with ESPN, announcing that players would have the option to opt into appearing in a new 2024 college football game and that they would be compensated for doing so.
With both this context and the extreme popularity of college football in the US in mind, it's easy to see why EA Sports College Football 25 is blowing up. Note that while there aren't publicly available player counts at the time of writing, Piscatella posted a humorous GIF on Friday that makes it clear the game is performing very, very well.
I don't enjoy sports games myself, but even so, it's awesome to see those who do finally get a new college football entry after 11 years. Since 2013, fans have had to rely on community-made NCAA Football 14 mods to enjoy a somewhat modern college football gaming experience. Not anymore.
One disappointing thing about the new game is that it's not available on Windows PC through any platform or service, which I'd guess is due to concerns about mods and licensing (perhaps the game will come to PC eventually; after all, Madden is on it). Its exclusivity to Xbox Series X|S and PS5 does make it something of a system seller for those consoles, though, as unlike most new EA Sports games, it's not playable on the last-gen Xbox One or PS4.
EA Sports College Football 25 is also not available on Xbox Game Pass, which is Microsoft's buffet-style subscription service that gives members access to hundreds of games for a monthly fee. It is, however, discounted by $7 for EA Play members, which you get with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for no additional cost (in time, it may also become fully playable through EA Play). Sony's PlayStation Plus does not include EA Play in any tier, so if you have Game Pass Ultimate already, Xbox is the best place to play.
EA Sports College Football 25 is available now on Xbox Series X|S and PS5 consoles for $69.99. If you're a big college football fan, it's one of the best Xbox games you can play.
