Image via EA Orlando/EA Sports.
July 19 is the official release of EA Sports College Football 25, but it was already a success with its launch days earlier.
EA bragged that thanks to its Early Access launch with the deluxe edition, the game amassed 2.2 million players. Through the EA Play trial, it added another 600,000 players to its ranks.
Making this more impressive is the numbers are strictly for current-gen consoles. The game released only on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, with no PC port (at time of writing) or last-gen versions.
“The response we’ve seen from across the collegiate landscape, athletes, creators, celebrities and the core community has been nothing short of spectacular,” said EA Sports GM Daryl Holt. “We couldn’t be more excited to welcome millions more into the game with today’s launch.”
EA Sports has another winner on hand
Sports games tend to do very well for EA in terms of players and revenue. The deluxe edition for College 25 ran for $90, and that gamble has clearly paid off for the publisher.
College 25 is the first new installment in the series since NCAA Football 2014 in 2013. The revival is notably paying real-world college players for their likenesses, an issue EA and NCAA previously clashed over that led to the series being iced.
Suffice to say, there’s an extra layer of importance to this specific title. And its success is another feather in EA’s cap, both on its own merits, and as one under the EA Sports branding also applied to its soccer and rally racing franchise.
About the Author(s)
Contributing Editor, GameDeveloper.com
A Kansas City, MO native, Justin Carter has written for numerous sites including IGN, Polygon, and SyFy Wire. In addition to Game Developer, his writing can be found at io9 over on Gizmodo. Don’t ask him about how much gum he’s had, because the answer will be more than he’s willing to admit.
