A sense of anticipation has been building among college football players and fans alike for a video game that’s been absent from households, apartments, and college dorms for over a decade.
That long wait is about to end.
EA Sports College Football, a video game franchise halted in the mid-2010s, is set to return for the first time in 11 years with EA Sports College Football 25. The game is set for release on July 19, with early access beginning on the 16th.
Although it’s the return of a beloved gaming franchise, it will be radically different thanks to name, image, and likeness. Unlike in the past when college football teams were made up of nameless players who pseudo-looked like real stars, this one will be made up of stars, depth players, and bench warmers.
The game’s release marks the first widespread NIL deal for over 10,000 college football players, including many Southwest Florida athletes who have opted in to have their likeness in the game.
“It’s just an excitement knowing that kids in the town will be able to play it with people that have come from their hometown,” said Naples High graduate and Auburn freshman Kensley Faustin, the 2023 Southwest Florida Football Defensive Player of the Year. “That’s just one of the really exciting things about it.”
How we got here: NCAA Football 14 was the last college football video game until NIL
The game’s 11-year hiatus was the result of the high-profile legal battle spearheaded by Ed O’Bannon, a former UCLA star basketball player in the 1990s. O’Bannon was at the forefront of an antitrust class-action lawsuit against the NCAA, claiming the organization was wrongfully using athletes’ images in a commercial sense. For example, athletes in EA Sports’ college football video game franchises didn’t use the names of players, but “used numbers, skill sets, and general appearances of players without compensation.” Sports was listed as a co-defendant in that case, as well as the Collegiate Licensing Company.
It forced the shutdown of video games after Denard Robinson graced the cover of NCAA Football 14, which was released on July 9, 2013. To this day, many intentionally kept Xbox 360’s and PlayStation 3’s for the sole reason of playing a college football video game despite those consoles being two generations old.
In 2021, the Supreme Court took up NCAA v. Alston, which prompted the NCAA to reverse course on compensating student-athletes. Once name, image, and likeness rules were passed, that paved the way for EA Sports to bring the video game back to life. On February 2, 2021, EA’s X account posted an announcement the franchise was coming back. In 2023, EA announced that player likenesses would be included.
“For those who never stopped believing…” the post from 2021 read. Along with it was a photo of a football field full of confetti, with big white words “College Football is coming back.”
The game will be available on PlayStation 5, or Xbox Series X. Digital-only versions will be available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and the Xbox Series S.
While the game is expected to sell millions of copies, it’s unclear if it’ll be as popular as FIFA 18, which saw just north of 26 million people purchase the game in 2017 over six different platforms. EA Sports College Football 25, for perspective, is being sold on just three platforms.
Who’s in, who’s out? What players will appear in College Football 25?
All 134 Division I-FBS football teams are in the game but were limited to 85 roster spots like a real team, and not everyone was picked. Players had to opt in and out.
Each player who has chosen to opt into the game will receive $600 from EA, as well as a copy of the game for their preferred platform.
The News-Press and Naples Daily News confirmed 42 of Southwest Florida’s 56 eligible prospects opted into the game, with none of the 47 locals who responded to The News-Press and Naples Daily News saying they opted out by choice. Nine locals who are eligible to be in this year’s game did not respond to inquiries.
Those that opted in include the Wisconsin trio of Chez Mellusi (Naples High), Jake Chaney (Lehigh), and Jonas Duclona (Naples), as well as the Florida contingent of Devin Moore (Dunbar), T.J. Abrams (Dunbar), and Myles Graham (formerly ECS). Ole Miss defensive back Chris Graves (Bishop Verot) also opted in, as did Clemson tight end Olsen Patt-Henry (First Baptist) and N.C. State running back Kendrick Raphael (Naples).
For those in the game, like Dunbar alum Kye Garcia, he couldn’t be more excited. Garcia was considered a late bloomer on the recruiting front, receiving an offer from Colorado on Dec. 18 after a senior season where he posted 140 tackles and 10 sacks. Garcia committed to Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes on Feb. 7, putting pen to paper on National Signing Day.
“Everything was really last minute,”…
Naples Daily News
