EA Sports revealed the modes and features that headline EA Sports College Football 25, and gave fans a first look at the explosive on-field gameplay and iconic atmospheres of modern-era college football that await when the game launches.

College Football 25 introduces CampusIQ, a suite of features that brings to life the true depth of college football through wide open, fast-paced gameplay across all 134 FBS schools in all areas of the game.

Fan-favorite modes Dynasty and Road To Glory set a new standard for college football greatness for fans ready to construct their own powerhouse program as a created coach or vie for the Heisman as a player, while the all-new Road to the College Football Playoff and College Football Ultimate Team bring fresh online experiences and ways to play. 

WHAT IS COLLEGE FOOTBALL ULTIMATE TEAM?

Ultimate Team is where you build your College Football dream team with Campus Heroes of today and Legends from the past. Build your squad and compete against other players or battle against the AI. Much like reviving a program to its former glory, building your Ultimate Team squad might seem a little daunting… It isn't and we are here to get you up to speed!

LET’S GET IT STARTED

First, we are incredibly proud to announce that in addition to players of today and retired legends of the past, College Football Ultimate Team will feature active NFL players. Thanks to our partnership with the NFLPA, the mode will include active players like Patrick Mahomes, Davante Adams, Christian McCaffrey, Josh Allen, Ceedee Lamb, Stefon Diggs, Joe Burrow, and many more who can join your squad! 

At the start of your journey, you will inherit a beginner team. Depending on what your favorite school is, you will start with a handful of names that will be familiar to you. Whether you're a Solo player or a H2H Champ you’ll have multiple modes to explore, but if you want to jump start your squad and start increasing your Team OVR, you should jump straight into completing ‘Challenges’.

CHALLENGES AND OBJECTIVES

‘Challenges’ are scenarios that require you to complete specific requirements on the field. These scenarios can vary in difficulty and are a great way for you to sharpen your football fundamentals or master a playbook. Some might require you to complete a touch pass, others will task you to lead a comeback against a rival squad. What’s important though is that completing Challenges allow you to earn rewards such as Packs, specific Player Items, and/or Coins that all can be used to improve your Team.

To start the year we have over 100 Challenges, providing variety and different themes to make each Challenge feel unique. We really want to use Challenges as a way to celebrate College Football, its historic past and present. During Season 1, check out the ‘In Case You Missed It’ Challenges to relive some of your favorite moments in college football over the last 10 years. In Ultimate Team 101, you’ll have the opportunity to work on your fundamentals. As the year progresses, we’ll be introducing new Challenges for you to tackle every Season!

Completing ‘Objectives’ is also a great way to upgrade your lineup. Daily and Seasonal Objectives can be completed while playing specific modes, and offer XP for your Field Pass, which earns you Player Packs and Coins. Objectives will often highlight a specific action that needs to be done on the field, like winning games with a specific lineup, or requiring you to reach specific requirements for on field statistics.  

COINS, COINS EVERYWHERE

With the Coins you’ve earned from Challenges, completing Objectives and competing in various modes, you’ll have a few options to use your resources to earn players. One option is to head over to ‘Marketplace’ and check out the store where you can acquire packs. New players are introduced in weekly releases. Your other opportunity is to check out the Auction House. Here you can exchange coins for specific players that could improve holes in your lineup.

BUILDING YOUR COLLEGE FOOTBALL ULTIMATE TEAM

Team building in Ultimate Team begins with setting your Lineup. Deciding who starts for your team is key to winning games. You can manually select who plays at each position, including bench spots or you can select the ‘Generate Best Lineup’ option to make your lineup building easy. Multiple options are available when you generate the best lineup: Create the highest OVR team possible from your Item Binder, select a specific Team Chemistry to build towards, or commit your lineup to a Scheme Chemistry. Ultimate Team is all about team building and you’ll have the tools to create unique and fun lineups with over 153 Chemistry options. 

Once you’ve earned players and edited your Lineup, you can watch your Team OVR rise and take on tougher competition. Of course, we’re just scratching the surface of team building in Ultimate Team, let’s dive into the different Chemistries that are available.

CHEMISTRIES

Chemistry is an important part of team building and often what makes a good team great! In College Football Ultimate Team you reach higher Chemistry tiers by putting Players in your lineup with matching Chemistries to boost your player’s attributes. Scheme and Team Chemistries will play a role in building your team. With 134 Team Chemistries and 19 total Offensive and Defensive Scheme Chemistries, College Football Ultimate Team offers depth and creativity, offering so many options to build your team.

SCHEME CHEMISTRY

When you’re building a team, you’re building towards a specific playstyle that represents you best on the field. In College Football Ultimate Team, you’ll want a playbook that complements the type of players you have in your lineup. Some teams like to pound the rock, others like to air it out. Find the players that suit your style and make the playbook you're calling plays from shine. All Player Items and Playbooks will be associated with one of the following Schemes and count towards your Scheme Chem. As you reach Scheme Chem requirements by having them in your lineup, players of matching Chems will gain attribute boosts.

OFFENSIVE SCHEMES

It's up to you as the coach of your Ultimate Team to decide which scheme suits your playstyle the best, and all are worth experimenting with to find that answer. If you are looking for a pass-first system, Run ‘n’ Shoot or Air Raid are great places to start! Both offenses rely on the QB to make quick reads, allowing your playmakers to go to work in the open field. Other schemes like Option and Power Spread put your RB room in position to tote the rock and win games on the ground.

DEFENSIVE SCHEMES

Defense wins championships! With high powered offenses all over the country, it's important to have a defensive scheme that makes you and your players shine! We’ve seen teams have great success mixing personnel, finding creative ways to bring the pressure, or disguise their coverage to confuse the offense. Look into the 3-3-5 if you have the athletes to keep up with the Spread, or run 4-3 if you’re trying to fill the box.

PLAYBOOKS

We know Playbooks are going to be important in your College Football Ultimate Team journey. Not only does Ultimate Team feature all 134 team’s playbooks, but it also includes scheme specific playbooks. With 19 total schemes, we want to help make finding your on-field identity easier for both sides of the ball. Don’t jump into the Auction House and spend coins on a new playbook! Instead, head over to Challenges and check out ‘Offense Scheme Trials’ and ‘Defense Scheme Trials’. Here you can experience each scheme and see how it plays with your squad before committing to a specific style. Learn and perfect the philosophy behind each scheme. The first Challenge of each scheme will give you the opportunity to earn a Scheme Specific Playbook of that Offense or Defense.

TEAM CHEMISTRY

You'll also want to consider a player’s Team Chemistry when building a roster! All Player Items will have a default 'Team Chem' from the school they represent. However, with the transfer portal having a large impact on College Football, we wanted to allow you to put your favorite players from all over the country on your team. Meaning, Player Items will have access to all 134 Team Chems, so you could build a crazy Ohio St. Buckeye Theme Team full of Michigan Wolverines... but you wouldn't do that, right? 

Once you unlock a Team Chem bucket on a Player Item, you'll be able to replace the current Team Chem with the one of your choosing. Increase your Team Chem tiers by loading your lineup with a specific Team Chem and boost the attributes of your favorite players from your favorite school - discovering all new Lineup possibilities all year long.

UNDERSTANDING PLAYER ITEMS

PLAYER ITEM FRONTS

With thousands of players in College Football 25, it might take some effort to remember them all. So these Player Item Fronts highlight key attributes based on the archetype and position of that player. OVR is a great way to get a sense of a player's ability on the field, but sometimes you want to see those key attributes at a glance. Items also come in all different rarities and can be represented by different colors. Those rarities are highlighted below.

Item Rarities:

• Common - Grey
• Uncommon - Green
• Rare - Blue
• Epic - Purple
• Legendary - Gold

PLAYER ITEM BACKS

With a flick of the right joystick you can flip the Player Item to see what Abilities are currently equipped. If you see a number on the front, you will see the same number of Abilities equipped and displayed on the back. As you equip new Abilities and replace others, you will see those represented on the player item. On the back of player items, you will also see a list of attributes for that player and position.

ABILITIES

As highlighted in the previous Gameplay Deep Dive, we have a ton of abilities in College Football 25. In College Football Ultimate Team, you have the choice to unlock and equip multiple Abilities to a player. Abilities can be turned active in your lineup by allotting the required AP amount. Lineups cannot exceed the AP point limit.

Abilities play a role in team building! So when viewing a Player Item, head to the ‘Upgrades’ tab. Here you can spend ‘Training’ that unlocks Ability buckets. These buckets house the different abilities that the Player Items can equip. We’ll have different buckets dedicated to mental and physical abilities. Once the buckets are unlocked, you can exchange training for an ability of your choice. If you end up changing your mind about which Ability to activate, you can refund the Training cost of those upgrades/unlocks. 

You’ll be able to earn Training by quickselling Items in your binder, note that quickselling an Item is permanently discarding it.

PROGRAMS

Throughout the year, we will have new and exciting live content updates for you to engage with. Be on the lookout for new challenges, players, game modes, rewards and store offers! These are just a few of the Programs we'll be playing at launch.

ULTIMATE ALUMNI

Ultimate Alumni are returning to their stomping grounds in Season 1 of College Football Ultimate Team. Here the top players from previous college entries will make an appearance, and give opposing fans headaches once again. Play through Challenges to relive some of their brightest moments on field, complete sets and open packs for these stars to improve your squad!

While we are at it, let's reveal the Ultimate Alumni Player Items that you can choose from as part of the Last Chance Pre-Order Offer!*

• Brock Bowers
• Blake Corum
• Cooper Dejean
• Michael Penix Jr
• Jared Verse
• Adonai Mitchell
• JC Latham
• Jordan Morgan
• Payton Wilson
• Quinyon Mitchell

CONFERENCE STORIES OF THE WEEK

Leading up to the Season, we will be highlighting incredible stories and the players who were a part of them! New Challenges, Players, and Sets will become available. Be on the lookout for your favorite Conference and check out the Challenges to relive some of classic moments from each!

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT)

ICYMI will bring you up to speed on the last decade of college football. Whether it's the 2013 Miracle for Auburn, UCFs perfect 2017 season, or Alabama's Title Redemption against Clemson, you’ll get a chance to look back at these moments, as we look forward to College kickoff. This program will feature players who had those iconic moments and that led their schools to victory and balled out.

LEGENDS

Legendary All-Americans will be returning to campus and be highlighted during launch week. With College Football returning we also wanted to honor some of the Legends that made us all fall in love with the game! With legendary players showing up every week, this is going to be an exciting time in College Football Ultimate Team and you will have an opportunity to see how the GOATs of the past matchup against today's Stars!

LIVE EVENTS

Ultimate Team will be celebrating college football throughout the year and you won’t want to miss anything. Head over to the Live Events tab to stay up to date! Filter to a specific Program so you can see all the content in that Program all in one place.

FIELD PASS

The Live Events tab also highlights your Field Pass. Your Field Pass is representative of the progress made in the current season. As you level up by completing Objectives, you’ll earn rewards that will help you progress through the year and give you the tools to build a championship level squad.

The ‘Orientation’ Field Pass will be available on launch. The Orientation Objectives and Challenges will help you get familiar with Ultimate Team and jump start your team. After you’ve attended Orientation, you can hop right into the Season Field Pass and start earning more rewards like: Coins, Packs, and Players that can take your lineup to the next level.

SETS

Sets will allow you to take lower OVR players and exchange them for a player with a higher OVR. This is a great way to find use for some of the players that may have fallen out of your lineup and are no longer needed. To help you decide who to place into a Set, we will suggest the lowest rated items that meet the Set requirements and allow you to redeem with a single button press. New Sets will be introduced throughout each Season as Programs release.

NEW WAYS TO PLAY

We’ve covered Challenges that you’ll be able to play throughout the season with your squad. Beyond that, College Football Ultimate Team offers many ways to play no matter if you like to play solo, squad up with friends, or really put your skills to the test against other players online. 

First up though, we’re very excited to introduce a new way to play that we call Solo Seasons. With Solo Seasons, you’ll be able to play a Season format with your Ultimate Team against AI opponents. Go 5-0 in your season and get a bye for the playoffs, compete for the championship, and get ready to do it all over again. Solo Seasons is completely repeatable and offers greater rewards as you progress in each season! Ultimate Team also offers Solo Battles, where you’ll be focused on accumulating Battle Score for each win and earn rewards as you progress!

For those who enjoy playing vs others online, College Football Ultimate Team has the more traditional modes in H2H Seasons, where you’ll play through a season, make the playoffs, win championships, and move up in divisions for even better rewards. If you want to squad up with your friends, check out Squads Regular Season where each player takes on an assigned role of the team as the Offensive Captain, Defensive Captain, and Head Coach. Hop online with your friends and move up in divisions for those sweet, sweet rewards together.

Now if you’re looking for a new way to sweat, College Football Ultimate Team has a brand new experience that we’re calling the Gauntlet. Every Friday, enter the Gauntlet to take on the best the mode has to offer online. Become a Gauntlet Champion by achieving 10 Wins, but take 2 losses and your Gauntlet run for that week is over. A ton of great rewards are up for grabs, including Coins, National Champion Packs, and exclusive players!

Note: Gauntlet events start every Friday at 1:30pm ET and ends Monday at 1:30pm ET.

How can you enter the Gauntlet each week? You can play Champs during the week to earn a Gauntlet entry or pay a coin entry. In Champs, you’ll play a maximum of 20 games against others, but getting 16 wins in the current week’s Champs event will be all you need to enter the Gauntlet.

Note: Champs events refresh every Thursday at 1:30 PM ET.

If you’re working up a sweat reading this, you can cool down as we talk about House Rules. With House Rules, you’ll be able to play games with unique twists to the traditional football rule set. House Rules will rotate in and out throughout a Season, so be sure to check your Live Events tab. Below are the two House Rule modes you can play at launch: 

Touchdown Tango - 25 Yard first downs AND 14 points for a touchdown. Go up by 28 points and earn the immediate win! Earn ICYMI players and packs from accruing wins. 

Note: Touchdown Tango expires on 8/29 at 10:00am ET. 

Overtime - Play the iconic College Football overtime against other players! Each team gets one drive to score a touchdown or field goal until someone does not match. Top score wins.

SIGNING OFF

And there we have it, the in’s and out’s of College Football Ultimate Team and what you can expect coming soon. We can’t wait to see what teams you put together using players from all generations! For any updates coming to Ultimate Team including program information, scheduling, and new players, make sure to follow us on X! Thank you all so much for the passion over the years and we can’t wait to show you more during the launch stream! See you all then!

 - College Football Ultimate Team Developers

EXPLOSIVE COLLEGE GAMEPLAY 

The wide open, fast-paced gameplay CampusIQ delivers in College Football 25 matches the explosiveness of college football game days, whether you want to keep it on the ground with Army's Flexbone offense, or take to the sky with USC's Air Raid. A range of player ratings that fluctuate throughout each game, team tiers, and in-game passing mechanics custom to college play bring a gameplay feel unique to college football. 

• Wear & Tear System: As the hits add up, players wear down with the Wear & Tear System. Manage your players’ health, limit fatigue, assess risk of injury, and avoid on-field mistakes by using strategic substitutions to ensure your players are at their best when it counts the most.
• Pre-Snap Recognition: Pre-Snap Recognition makes the decision behind every snap matter more. Do you trust in your high-skill seniors, or take a risk with your untested freshman? Read the game, then read your players to make the right decision when the game is on the line. 
• Homefield Advantage: Game-altering homefield advantages rattle your rivals in college football's toughest places to play. Test your squad’s road game composure and confidence levels as you play through distractions like screen shaking, missing pre-play icons, and moving play art. 

ICONIC ATMOSPHERES

Fans will be immersed into the most iconic settings, stadiums and traditions of college football, from The Big House to The Swamp, Tuscaloosa to College Station, and everywhere in between. The sights, sounds, fight songs, mascots, commentators, and unique touches that make up college football game days across all 134 FBS universities, bowl games and the College Football Playoff will come to life.

• Pageantry & Traditions: Revel in the storied traditions that electrify college football stadiums every Saturday. With unique team run-outs, rivalry rituals, synchronized crowd-chants, loudness meters as well as real game-day audio, fight songs and, of course, mascots, it’ll feel like home everywhere you look.
• Commentary & Broadcast: Listen to the iconic voices of Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit as they call marquee matchups, while Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, and David Pollack take the mic for all other games. Take in the sights and sounds around the stadium between plays with a dynamic picture-in-picture play-call system.

CHASE COLLEGE GREATNESS

Set a new standard for college football greatness whether building your dream team of college football stars and legends, recruiting a winning roster, or developing a coaching staff. Lead your program to the Natty as a created coach, balance student-athlete life and take home the Heisman as a player, or get competitive online in the college football experience of your choice.

• Dynasty: Create a coach and take control of your own college football program. Establish your coaching staff, then work to recruit the best talent either straight from high school or direct from the transfer portal. Coaching archetypes and skill trees empower you to run your program your own way as you vie for a spot in the new 12-team College Football Playoff, or create your own college football program with customization tools on the Team Builder website.
• Road To Glory: Live the life of a student-athlete with your created player and take home the Heisman as you build an unforgettable college football legacy. Manage your weekly schedule, GPA, and your image, earn Coach Trust to get more playing time, or use the transfer portal to get the time and the glory you deserve. 
• Road to the College Football Playoff: Experience a new way to play competitively across consoles in the Road to the College Football Playoff. Will you represent your university, or take a power school to climb the polls? Earn rank by upsetting the toughest opponents and securing the votes you need to progress and level up divisions. Play your way into the playoffs and battle for the National Championship.
• College Football Ultimate Team: Build your dream team of college football stars and legends. Play Solo Challenges or H2H Seasons to upgrade your squad and take on the toughest contests. Test your skills across consoles in more competitive formats like College Football Ultimate Team Champs and Champs Gauntlet. 

Standard and Deluxe editions of EA Sports College Football 25 are available for pre-order now but fans seeking the ultimate football experience can pre-order a unique offering from EA SPORTS – the EA Sports MVP Bundle, which includes the deluxe editions of EA SPORTS College Football 25 and Madden NFL 25 with 3-day early access for both titles and a variety of other benefits. 

MVP BUNDLE PRE-ORDER INCENTIVES

MVP Bundle (College Football 25 Deluxe Edition & Madden NFL 25 Deluxe Edition) - Digital Only - available on PlayStation and Xbox platforms

Pre-order the MVP Bundle and receive: 

• Madden NFL 25 Deluxe Edition
  • 3 Day Early Access (Aug 13-15)
  • 4600 Madden Points
  • Early Access Ultimate Team Challenges
  • AKA Player Item 
  • Cover Athlete Elite Player Item
  • Elite Player Item (Bundle Only - not included in standalone Deluxe Edition)
  • Choice of 2 Strategy Items
  • Superstar Drip Gear (PS5® and Xbox Series X|S only)
  • Legendary XP Boost (PS5® and Xbox Series X|S only)
• College Football 25 Deluxe Edition (PS5 & Xbox Series X|S only)
  • 3 Day Early Access (July 16-18)
  • 4600 College Football Points
  • Alma Mater Ultimate Team Pack (Choice of 1 player item out of 134)
  • Cover Athlete Ultimate Team Pack (Choice of 1 player item out of 3)
  • Heisman Hopeful Ultimate Team Pack (Choice of 1 player item out of 5)
  • Bring Glory Home Ultimate Team Uniform Item

DELUXE EDITION PRE-ORDER INCENTIVES

Pre-order the EA Sports College Football 25 Deluxe Edition by June 27 and receive a Heisman Hopeful Ultimate Team Pack (Choice of 1 player item out of 5) plus additional content:

• 3 Day Early Access (July 16-18)
• 4600 College Football Points
• Alma Mater Ultimate Team Pack (Choice of 1 player item out of 134)
• Cover Athlete Ultimate Team Pack (Choice of 1 player item out of 3)
• Bring Glory Home Ultimate Team Uniform Item

STANDARD EDITION PRE-ORDER INCENTIVES

Pre-order EA Sports College Football 25 today and receive:

• Alma Mater Ultimate Team Pack (Choice of 1 player item out of 134)
• Cover Athlete Ultimate Team Pack (Choice of 1 player item out of 3)
• Bring Glory Home Ultimate Team Uniform Item

EA Play members will get a 10-hour Early Access Trial starting July 16. Members can score rewards such as monthly College Football Ultimate Team packs, as well as receive 10% off Electronic Arts digital content including game downloads, Season Passes, College Football Points, and DLC.

EA Sports College Football 25 is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on July 19, 2024.