Fans have been celebrating the long-awaited return of college football games with the release EA NCAA 25 College Football; However, Electronic Arts (EA) has received a lot of criticism for its lack of a PC release.
More than ten years after its last release in the series, EA Sports College Football is back, allowing players to play as their favorite US colleges and take them online.
This comes after fans have campaigned for years for the return of the beloved series. It was then officially announced that it would be coming back in February 2021, marking a painful three-year gap before the first game of this new game would ever see the light of day.
EA NCAA 25 College Football hit store shelves after a long and arduous wait for fans, but PC gamers are being left out of the fun and they’re making it known.
College Football 25 was finally released (in early access) on Tuesday, July 16th, with a full release coming three days later on Friday, July 19th.
However, the game has been remarkably quiet in regards to a PC debut of sorts.
At the time of release, EA’s long-awaited return to college athletics is only available on consoles, coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Because of this, PC fans who wanted to get back into the series have been left in the cold, assuming that the title would come to their platform of choice like most other modern tentpole games.
Fans have not been quiet about this decision, taking to several online forums to express their frustration.
During the title’s early access, CBS Sports reporter Brent Brookhouse posted on his personal X Page (formerly Twitter) and summed up the feelings of most PC gamers about the decision.
He called the lack of any sort of PC release a “cucumber” because he doesn’t see himself picking up an Xbox or a PlayStation “basically…for one game:”
“Not releasing NCAA Football 25 on PC is a huge problem. I don’t see myself buying a new console in the near future, especially if it’s basically for one game, since I’m a PC guy.”
This seems to be the most common sentiment among those who have chosen a PC as their video gaming platform, when purchasing a console purely for gaming. College Football 25 is an expensive proposition.
Other PC fans have told EA because they believe this College Football the release crash is yet another example of a publisher’s model of pulling value out of the platform’s exclusive subscription service, EA Play Pro.
EA Play Pro offers PC gamers the option of subscribing to a monthly fee that gives them access to a large library of EA titles, including instant access to brand new day one releases (something EA NCAA 25 College Football would probably have had to).
Some fans see this as a concerted effort by EA to shift value away from the service and encourage players to buy their games at full price elsewhere.
The decision to ditch PC is made all the more puzzling by the fact that other recent EA Sports games hold up Madden NFL 24, F1 24, EA Sports FC 24and EA Sports PGA Tour have all entered the platform.
The only major EA Sports franchise that has been overtaken on PC has been EA Sports NHL, with the last title NHL the series is not a console-exclusive creature NHL 09.
EA has kept quiet all this time, with no word on whether or not a PC release is finally coming.
EA NCAA 25 College Football is now available for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
