EA Sports College Football 25 passes $500 million in sales
EA Sports College Football 25 has been out for less than two weeks and is already racking up jaw-dropping numbers.
The video game company shared Monday that College Football 25 has welcomed five million unique players to the game through its first week. More than 500,000 played the EA Play trial, too. According to Insider Gaming, the game has already generated $500 million in sales for EA Sports.
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.
Lawsuits emerged, most notably former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon and 19 others’ decision to sue the NCAA, arguing the organization violated United States antitrust laws by not allowing athletes to make a share of the revenues generated from the use of their NIL in broadcasts and video games.
Now the game is back and thriving more than a decade since it was halted.
“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 an 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.”
The video game 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 have opted in, pushing EA past its goal of 85 players per roster. EA informed athletes last month if they would be in or out of the first edition of the game. Developers created the game to allow for updates to rosters throughout the season.
As previously reported, all athletes who are in the game will receive $600 plus a copy of the game, typically valued at $70.