EA Sports College Football 25 gets huge early gameplay numbers

As expected, there is tremendous interest in the new EA Sports College Football 25 video game on the first official day of its release.

On the first official day of its worldwide release, EA Sports College Football 25 is predictably getting massive play. / Electronic Arts

EA Sports College Football 25 kicked off its worldwide release on Friday, and as expected, a gigantic number of players were prepared to get their hands on the highly-anticipated video game.

Those fans who paid the $99.99 price to pre-order the deluxe edition got three days of early access, and EA Sports revealed that total of 2.2 million unique players took part during that period, with an extra 600,000 gamers using the EA Play trial.

"From the moment we decided to make EA SPORTS College Football 25, the passionate college football fans out there were our team's north star," said Daryl Holt, SVP and Group GM of EA Sports.

"This game is for the fans, and the response we've seen from across the collegiate landscape, athletes, creators, celebrities, and the core community has been nothing short of spectacular."

More: EA Sports College Football 25 team rankings by tier

More on CFB 25: Trailer | Release Date | Player Rating Predictions | Team Rankings Projections

EA Sports last issued its popular college football video game more than a decade ago, back in 2013, after which the company announced that it was discontinuing the game.

That decision followed a court ruling that forced EA Sports to pay compensation to athletes who had previously been included in the product but were not paid.

Then, after the creation of the new NIL rules two years ago, EA went public by announcing that the game would return at some point in the future. That date is now here.

EA Sports College Football 25 Rankings Week

Electronic Arts debuted its Rankings Week with atop 25 poll of the toughest stadiums to play in college football, something that certainly got people talking ahead of CFB 25's July 19 release.

Then, it was a release of the best offenses in the game, and following that, a prediction of the best defenses.

Then, as the grand finale, EA Sports unveiled its top 25 rankings for the best overall teams. And with each reveal, fans furiously debated and dismissed many of the selections that were made.

(EA)

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