Finally – the day is here

It’s time to say goodbye to your boyfriend (or husband) for the foreseeable future. EA Sports’ College Football 25, the first collegiate football video game to hit consoles since 2013, is available to the public starting today.

Background: NCAA Football, which consistently ranked among the top-selling video games in the 2000s, wasn’t discontinued eleven years ago due to unpopularity.

Its demise occurred after courts ruled in favor of a lawsuit arguing college athletes – who weren’t explicitly named in the game but were inarguably the inspiration for its featured players, down to skills, jersey number, and skin color – should receive compensation for their likeness (the nerve!).

This led to the game being pulled from the market. But in 2021, a Supreme Court ruling opened the door for collegiate athletes to make money – which eventually resulted in the current NIL (name, image, and likeness) era – making a remake of the game possible.

• College Football 25 has 11,000 named players – and EA Sports was required to get each individual’s approval for inclusion.
• Any athlete who opted in was paid a minimum of $600 plus a copy of the game.

The reviews are in. Consumers who ordered a deluxe version of College Football 25 received access on Monday; that first day, as many as 700,000 people were playing online.

And outside of periodically crashing servers and a NSFW glitch with Colorado’s mascot, you’ll be hard-pressed to find negative reviews (though you can read one here).

Read more reviews for yourself.