EA Sports releases first teaser trailer for College Football 25 video game [VIDEO]

College football fans, rejoice. The countdown for College Football ‘25 is now on.

EA Sports released its first teaser trailer for the highly anticipated video game on Thursday, kickstarting the hype for its eventually release this summer. The company also announced that the full trailer will be released sometime in May, where we’ll most likely get an official release date. This will be the first college football game to be released since NCAA Football ‘14 hit shelves in the summer of 2013.

Starting as Bill Walsh College Football in 1993, the series eventually rebranded as NCAA Football and became an annual staple on the sports video game schedule. The game exploded in popularity in the 2000’s as graphics improved and beloved features were added to the game. The most popular feature was dynasty mode, where players could take control of any program and build it up season-by-season. Road to Glory mode also became a staple, where players create a player and control them throughout their entire college career.

However, the beginning of the end of the series came as a result of O’Bannon vs. NCAA, an antitrust class action lawsuit filed by former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon. He argued that NCAA licensed companies like EA Sports were wrongfully using the image and likeness of its athletes without proper compensation. For example, old NCAA games would list a star like Tim Tebow as “QB 15”, but use his exact height and weight measurements, along with making the player look similar to him in real life.

District Judge Claudia Wilken ruled that the NCAA did violate antitrust laws by barring payments to athletes for their name, image, and likeness and EA Sports eventually settled with O’Bannon and other plaintiffs part of the suit. EA was actually willing to continue the series by paying players for their likeness, but the NCAA and conferences like the SEC pushed back and pulled their trademarks, effectively killing the game. NCAA ‘14 would be the final game of the series for over a decade.