EA Sports College Football 25 will launch on July 19 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, marking the long-awaited return of American college football to these consoles after more than a decade.
Thursday’s news featured Michigan quarterback Donovan Edwards; Quinn Evers, Texas Peninsula; and Travis Hunter, Colorado’s two-way star receiver and quarterback, as cover athletes for the remake of one of the most beloved video game series.
These are the first players to appear on the cover of a college football video game while still active. The NCAA’s amateur rules long prohibited such participation, until a series of legal challenges and legislative efforts in the United States forced the organization and its members to change its policy.
In fact, one such lawsuit, in 2013, led to the cancellation of EA Sports’ long-running NCAA Football series, whose developers tried to quietly sidestep NCAA rules by putting real-life players in the game, albeit without their names.
Lawsuits brought by these athletes suspended the title and eventually led to new NCAA policies allowing active college players to profit from the use of their names, images and likenesses in commercial and promotional activities. A February report said more than 11,000 players would pay $600 each to participate.
If you’re in the game, who’s in the game?
In a statement released Thursday, EA Sports CEO Daryl Holt said that all 134 universities that make up the top tier of American college football will also appear in EA Sports College Football 25.
Edwards is a member of the defending national champion Michigan Wolverines. Evers led Texas to a 12-2 record and the Big 12 Conference Championship in 2023. Colorado’s Hunter is the only major college football player in the last 20 years to reach 100 rushing yards in the same game.
“I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of College Football 25 and have my Buffaloes on the cover of the game,” Hunter said. “I can’t wait to play and see myself, my teammates and my school in action.”
2024-05-16 16:02:43
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