EA Sports’ dormant College Football will reappear, like a cicada, on July 19th

It’s been a long time coming, but we finally know when College Football 25, EA Sports’ revival of the long-dormant soccer simulator series, is about to hit consoles. The game will arrive on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on July 19, fulfilling EA’s promise that it will arrive sometime this summer.

Michigan running back Donovan Edwards, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers and Colorado wide receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter star on the cover. College Football 25 will feature thousands of current athletes and feature 134 schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).

More details about the game will be revealed in the coming weeks. However, like its NFL-centric sibling Madden, College Football 25 will involve vacuuming money from EA Ultimate Team mode. Ultimate Team, which has long been a staple of EA Sports FC (before FIFA) and NHL games, sees players earn or buy packs of random players to add to their custom roster.

Pre-orders for College Football 25 are now open. EA sells an MVP pack of College Football 25 and Madden NFL 25 which includes the deluxe edition of each game and three days early access to each.

As it happens, the release date of Madden NFL 25 was also revealed on Thursday, albeit through pre-order product listings. Coming to PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on August 16th, less than a month from now College Football 25.

The “College Football” series has been inactive for more than a decade following legal issues over the alleged use of student-athlete images without consent. When EA announced a revival of the franchise in 2021, it noted this College football it will not feature real athletes. However, things have changed since then as the NCAA finally allowed student-athletes to monetize their name, image and likeness (NIL).

Players had a choice whether to join College Football 25and as of March, more than 10,000 were reported agreed to be included. Most received a NIL check of $600, according to CBS Sports. Higher-profile names, possibly including cover athletes, are said to have landed better-paying deals.

Update 05/16, 2:00 PM ET: Added Madden NFL 25 release date.

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