EA Sports College Football 25 announces 6.5 million players to date

Electronic Arts announced at Tuesday’s Investor Day that EA Sports College Football 25’s release has been “above expectations.”

The original EA college football video game franchise ran from 1998 until 2013. Moving from the Bill Walsh College Football moniker to NCAA Football, the annual game was eventually discontinued. The game returned this summer for the first time in more than a decade.

In the Investor Day call in New York City, EA announced the College Football 25 franchise is the largest new console game launch in North America in 2024.

EA also announced the video game has seen 6.5 million unique players to date. Quick math shows EA has brought in over $400 million in sales from the game. When the game launched in July, EA announced more than 500,000 played the EA Play trial for the game.

“EA delivered a strong start to FY25, beating net bookings guidance as we continue to execute across our business,” EA Sports CEO Andrew Wilson said in a July earnings report. “Our focus on delivering bigger, bolder, and more connected experiences for our players has never been sharper and is illustrated by the record-breaking launch of EA SPORTS College Football 25 as we head into another historic Q2 sports season at EA.”

EA executives said in the Investor’s Day call that College Football 25 and Madden 25 are aiming to bring in $1 billion net bookings in Fiscal Year 2025. EA College Football 25 was last sold in 2013. At the time, EA Sports sold roughly 1.5 million copies.

For the first time in the game’s history, athletes are being compensated for having their name, image and likeness included in the game. More than 14,000 college football players opted in, pushing EA past its goal of 85 players per roster. All athletes who are in the game received $600 plus a copy of the game.