After a decade-long wait, ‘College Football 25’ has proven to be one of the most eagerly anticipated sports video games ever released, and it already seems to be a massive financial success for EA Sports.
Whether you are – or used to be – a gamer doesn’t matter … If you follow college football even in the slightest, you have at least heard about the long-awaited return of the gaming franchise.
Most of you love the hype and hoopla – but I’m sure some of you are absolutely sick of hearing about it.
Regardless, this latest edition could very well be on pace to shatter some significant records.
Although EA Sports has not disclosed the exact number of copies sold or the total revenue generated, the early release alone has exceeded even the most optimistic of sales projections.
The game officially launches tonight at midnight, but those who preordered, purchased the deluxe edition, got the MVP bundle with Madden 25, or had early access via EA Play, were able to start playing on Monday.
Monday’s early access launch was so popular that the servers crashed shortly after the release, with 713,974 players online at 10:00 PM EST. This number doesn’t even account for those playing offline.
Reports indicate that EA Sports earned at least $89 million from preorders alone.
Early release prices ranged from $100 to $150 … Accounting for an average price of $125, the actual revenue might exceed $100 million, possibly reaching between $150-200 million.
While some players received the game for free, including over 14,000 college athletes who agreed to have their likenesses featured in the game, the revenue from preorders alone suggests a record-breaking launch.
Many of these athletes were likely among those playing online on Monday night.
Given these impressive figures, it is likely that ‘College Football 25’ will become the highest-grossing sports video game in terms of first-day sales.
Needless to say, with the standard release set for tonight at midnight, expect a wholeee lot more copies to be sold.
By the way – the video below is an absolute MUST-WATCH for anybody who has ever played any installment of the game…
What are your thoughts on the long-awaited return of the NCAA College Football video game series?
Have you played it yet? … What do you think? … Does it live up to the hype?
Will it become the highest-grossing sports video game in history???