On Friday, May 17, EA unveiled the trailer and full feature set for EA College Football 25 via press release.
While there’s a plethora of features to explore, the one that truly captured the attention of countless fans of the NCAA Football series and me is the return of the ‘Team Builder’ feature.
We’ll get into that in more detail, but here’s what we learned from the press release. The game will be released on July 19 and available exclusively on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Here is a look at the trailer, and I’ll be honest. it’s pretty fantastic:
EA College Football 25 – Campus IQ
College Football 25 will introduce Campus IQ. The concept is described as “a suite of features that brings to life the true depth of college football through wide open, fast-paced gameplay across all 134 FBS schools in all areas of the game.”
That broad description leaves us wanting more specifics, but there is enough to keep us excited.
EA College Football 25 Brings Back Dynasty Mode, Road to Glory and Team Builder
College Football 25 will feature the return of Dynasty and Road to Glory. Dynasty mode is the college football version of franchise mode, and it sounds like it has received a decent level of attention.
The Dynasty mode has you create a coach tasked with taking over a program. You’ll have to hire a coaching staff and recruit athletes from high school or through the transfer portal.
The recruiting engine in NCAA Football was amazing, and the way this process works in College Football 25 will be scrutinized.
There are coaching archetypes that are handled via skill trees that sound similar to the staff management options in Madden’s franchise mode. Ultimately, you want to guide your team into the new 12-team CFP.
The best new piece of information on Dynasty mode is the return of the Team Builder website, which allows you to create your own football program.
I wanted to see it return, and I didn’t expect EA to oblige. We’ll have to see if it is as layered as before, but seeing the feature return is excellent. I’m hoping for an early look at the site before launch that previews the options available.
Road to Glory is the single-player career mode. It allows users to take control of a single player and guide him through his college career with the hope of winning the Heisman trophy.
You’ll have to manage your player’s GPA, earn your coach’s trust, and attempt to win the Heisman on your journey. You can also put your created player into the transfer portal if you want to change schools.
New Mode: Road to the College Football Playoff
We’ll also see a new mode called Road to the College Football Playoff. Based on the description, it sounds like a cross-platform, ranked, online head-to-head competitive mode. The press release describes it as follows:
“Experience a new way to play competitively across consoles in the Road to the College Football Playoff. Will you represent your university, or take a power school to climb the polls? Earn rank by upsetting the toughest opponents and securing the votes you need to progress and level up divisions. Play your way into the playoffs and battle for the National Championship.”
College Football Ultimate Team
Ultimate Team returns to the college football video game world. NCAA Football had the collector mode before the series was canceled. However, EA has built out the format exponentially over the past decade.
We know the mode will feature current college football stars and legends, and it makes sense to expect various challenges, themed packs, and more in this iteration of the proven collector mode concept.
How Will EA College Football Gameplay and Presentation Differ From Madden?
From a pure gameplay standpoint, College Football 25 will undoubtedly have some similarities to Madden, but there are some obvious reasons to expect some differences. College Football 25 will feature many school-specific offenses and playbooks.
Player ratings will “fluctuate throughout each game,” and EA says teams are tiered. The in-game passing mechanics have been custom-fitted for college football.
One new gameplay concept that excites me is the “Wear & Tear system.”
EA describes it as follows:
“As the hits add up, players wear down with the Wear & Tear System. Manage your players’ health, limit fatigue, assess risk of injury, and avoid on-field mistakes by using strategic substitutions to ensure your players are at their best with it counts the most.”
I hope this functions as described and that if it does, it makes its way into Madden 25. Fatigue and managing injury risk are difficult to master in sports video games, so it will be interesting to see what modes this is present.
Pre-snap recognition is another key feature. It sounds as if it is designed to separate experienced heady players from young, inexperienced guys. I hope this feature or concept makes its way into Madden.
The Homefield Advantage concept sounds like a carryover from Madden’s M-Factors. I love it in franchise mode, and it is a logical fit in College Football 25. You could argue that the effects should be even stronger on collegiate players.
The atmosphere is a massive part of the immersion associated with College Football 25. According to EA, chants, fight songs, and mascots will be used for the top programs.
There will be two commentary teams in the game. Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, and David Pollack will commentate on most games. However, Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit will man the mic for “all marquee matchups.”
Be on the lookout for more detailed information in the coming weeks.
