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.
"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.
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!
First look at Knightro in EA CFB 25 🔥🎮 pic.twitter.com/m28rdio8dC
— UCF Football (@UCF_Football) June 26, 2024
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
Kyle Field - Texas A&M
Bryant-Denny Stadium - Alabama
Tiger Stadium - LSU
Ohio Stadium - Ohio State
Sanford Stadium - Georgia
Beaver Stadium - Penn State
Camp Randall Stadium - Wisconsin
Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium - Oklahoma
Doak S. Campbell Stadium - Florida State
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium - Florida
Autzen Stadium - Oregon
Memorial Stadium - Clemson
Neyland Stadium - Tennessee
Jordan-Hare Stadium - Auburn
Williams-Brice Stadium - South Carolina
Michigan Stadium - Michigan
Lane Stadium - Virginia Tech
Rice-Eccles Stadium - Utah
Darrell K. Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium - Texas
Kinnick Stadium - Iowa
Notre Dame Stadium - Notre Dame
Spartan Stadium - Michigan State
Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium - Arkansas
Albertsons Stadium - Boise State
Davis Wade Stadium - Mississippi State
Top offenses
Georgia - 94 OVR
Oregon - 94 OVR
Alabama - 91 OVR
Texas - 91 OVR
Ohio State - 89 OVR
LSU - 89 OVR
Miami - 89 OVR
Colorado - 89 OVR
Missouri - 89 OVR
Clemson - 87 OVR
Utah - 87 OVR
Penn State - 87 OVR
Ole Miss - 87 OVR
Kansas - 87 OVR
Arizona - 87 OVR
NC State - 87 OVR
Notre Dame - 85 OVR
Texas A&M - 85 OVR
Memphis - 85 OVR
SMU - 85 OVR
UCF - 85 OVR
Florida State - 83 OVR
Oklahoma - 83 OVR
Virginia Tech - 83 OVR
USC - 83 OVR
Top defenses
Ohio State - 96 OVR
Georgia - 94 OVR
Oregon - 90 OVR
Alabama - 90 OVR
Clemson - 90 OVR
Notre Dame - 90 OVR
Michigan - 90 OVR
Texas - 88 OVR
Penn State - 88 OVR
Utah - 88 OVR
Florida State - 88 OVR
Oklahoma - 88 OVR
Iowa - 88 OVR
Virginia Tech - 86 OVR
Wisconsin - 86 OVR
USC - 86 OVR
Auburn - 86 OVR
LSU - 84 OVR
Texas A&M - 84 OVR
Colorado - 84 OVR
Oklahoma State - 84 OVR
Louisville - 84 OVR
North Carolina - 84 OVR
Kansas State - 84 OVR
Florida - 84 OVR
Overall team power rankings
Georgia - 95 OVR
Ohio State - 93 OVR
Oregon - 93 OVR
Alabama - 92 OVR
Texas - 92 OVR
Clemson - 90 OVR
Notre Dame - 90 OVR
LSU - 90 OVR
Penn State - 88 OVR
Utah - 88 OVR
Michigan - 88 OVR
Florida State - 88 OVR
Miami - 88 OVR
Texas A&M - 88 OVR
Ole Miss - 88 OVR
Colorado - 87 OVR
Oklahoma - 87 OVR
Wisconsin - 87 OVR
USC - 87 OVR
Virginia Tech - 87 OVR
NC State - 87 OVR
Kansas - 87 OVR
Arizona - 87 OVR
Oklahoma State - 87 OVR
Iowa - 87 OVR
Click here for more information about College Football 25.