Sneak preview of EA Sports' College Football 25

ORLANDO, Fla. - College football fans are in for a treat this summer with the highly anticipated release of EA Sports' College Football 25 video game.

This week, FOX 35 got a sneak peek of the game, whose development team is based right here in Orlando. We were allowed inside the EA Sports Orlando office, but not in the employees' workspace – that's still confidential.

"It has been a long 10-year voyage for all of us. A lot of passion here, so we're pumped," said the game's lead producer, Christian McLeod.

McLeod worked on EA's last college football game, NCAA Football 14, which was released nearly 11 years ago.

"We lost an entire generation of people playing this game. So that's what we're personally excited about, is we're going to have a new generation now experiencing this for the first time," McLeod added.

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In College Football 25, all 134 programs in the Division 1 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) are featured in the game. And for the first time ever, more than 10,000 real college athletes will be in the game. They've each earned $600 for their name, image and likeness to appear in the video game.

<div>Photo: EA Sports</div>
Photo: EA Sports

"I think we all had in our minds what we believe that number was going to be. What we ended up with exceeded that, that by far," McLeod said. "So we're just super excited to have real players in the game for the first time."

Developers made sure to include at least one unique feature for every team featured in the game. They started working on this in 2021 and even attended UCF games and flew out as far as Wyoming to soak it all in.

"We nailed a ton of pageantry, a ton of that on that priority list. There's still a ton left, so we're super excited. We've got years of content that we're on the cutting room floor that we're bringing in next year and moving forward," McLeod.

<div>Photo: EA Sports</div>
Photo: EA Sports

UCF Athletics took to social media this week to give fans a glimpse of how the Bounce House and Knightro look in the new video game.

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One of those pageantry features McLeod mentioned is the signature "U-C-F KNIGHTS!" cheer from fans during kickoff. That's featured in the game, as seen in clips shared by UCF Football's social media accounts.

Knightro looks great, too!

UCF has the 21st-best offense in the game, according to EA Sports' Rankings Week list. More on that below.

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A 10-hour early access trial for EA Play members kicks off July 16. The game is set to release for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on July 19.

EA Sports reveals ‘toughest places to play’ in College Football 25

Here's a look at College Football 25's Rankings Week list ahead of the game's official launch:

Toughest places to play

  1. Kyle Field - Texas A&M

  2. Bryant-Denny Stadium - Alabama

  3. Tiger Stadium - LSU

  4. Ohio Stadium - Ohio State

  5. Sanford Stadium - Georgia

  6. Beaver Stadium - Penn State

  7. Camp Randall Stadium - Wisconsin

  8. Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium - Oklahoma

  9. Doak S. Campbell Stadium - Florida State

  10. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium - Florida

  11. Autzen Stadium - Oregon

  12. Memorial Stadium - Clemson

  13. Neyland Stadium - Tennessee

  14. Jordan-Hare Stadium - Auburn

  15. Williams-Brice Stadium - South Carolina

  16. Michigan Stadium - Michigan

  17. Lane Stadium - Virginia Tech

  18. Rice-Eccles Stadium - Utah

  19. Darrell K. Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium - Texas

  20. Kinnick Stadium - Iowa

  21. Notre Dame Stadium - Notre Dame

  22. Spartan Stadium - Michigan State

  23. Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium - Arkansas

  24. Albertsons Stadium - Boise State

  25. Davis Wade Stadium - Mississippi State

Top offenses

  1. Georgia - 94 OVR

  2. Oregon - 94 OVR

  3. Alabama - 91 OVR

  4. Texas - 91 OVR

  5. Ohio State - 89 OVR

  6. LSU - 89 OVR

  7. Miami - 89 OVR

  8. Colorado - 89 OVR

  9. Missouri - 89 OVR

  10. Clemson - 87 OVR

  11. Utah - 87 OVR

  12. Penn State - 87 OVR

  13. Ole Miss - 87 OVR

  14. Kansas - 87 OVR

  15. Arizona - 87 OVR

  16. NC State - 87 OVR

  17. Notre Dame - 85 OVR

  18. Texas A&M - 85 OVR

  19. Memphis - 85 OVR

  20. SMU - 85 OVR

  21. UCF - 85 OVR

  22. Florida State - 83 OVR

  23. Oklahoma - 83 OVR

  24. Virginia Tech - 83 OVR

  25. USC - 83 OVR

Top defenses

  1. Ohio State - 96 OVR

  2. Georgia - 94 OVR

  3. Oregon - 90 OVR

  4. Alabama - 90 OVR

  5. Clemson - 90 OVR

  6. Notre Dame - 90 OVR

  7. Michigan - 90 OVR

  8. Texas - 88 OVR

  9. Penn State - 88 OVR

  10. Utah - 88 OVR

  11. Florida State - 88 OVR

  12. Oklahoma - 88 OVR

  13. Iowa - 88 OVR

  14. Virginia Tech - 86 OVR

  15. Wisconsin - 86 OVR

  16. USC - 86 OVR

  17. Auburn - 86 OVR

  18. LSU - 84 OVR

  19. Texas A&M - 84 OVR

  20. Colorado - 84 OVR

  21. Oklahoma State - 84 OVR

  22. Louisville - 84 OVR

  23. North Carolina - 84 OVR

  24. Kansas State - 84 OVR

  25. Florida - 84 OVR

Overall team power rankings

  1. Georgia - 95 OVR

  2. Ohio State - 93 OVR

  3. Oregon - 93 OVR

  4. Alabama - 92 OVR

  5. Texas - 92 OVR

  6. Clemson - 90 OVR

  7. Notre Dame - 90 OVR

  8. LSU - 90 OVR

  9. Penn State - 88 OVR

  10. Utah - 88 OVR

  11. Michigan - 88 OVR

  12. Florida State - 88 OVR

  13. Miami - 88 OVR

  14. Texas A&M - 88 OVR

  15. Ole Miss - 88 OVR

  16. Colorado - 87 OVR

  17. Oklahoma - 87 OVR

  18. Wisconsin - 87 OVR

  19. USC - 87 OVR

  20. Virginia Tech - 87 OVR

  21. NC State - 87 OVR

  22. Kansas - 87 OVR

  23. Arizona - 87 OVR

  24. Oklahoma State - 87 OVR

  25. Iowa - 87 OVR

Click here for more information about College Football 25.

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