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EA Sports College Football 25 was a huge success for the company, and the franchise is coming back this year with potentially even more features that the studio didn't get into 2024's game.

EA Sports executive Daryl Holt told The Athletic that the team knew it was never going to be able to get everything it wanted to in 2024's game. "So there's a lot of meat left on the bone," he said.

Holt declined to get into specifics regarding new features for CFB 26, but teased, "We've got a lot of things still to come."

He added: "We release a game, we understand what's important to players and what they play and what they would like changed, improved or added. This is a game for fans built by college fans ourselves, and we want it to be that type of relationship to understand what's important to them."

For CFB 25, many people mentioned how the single-player career mode, Road to Glory, felt underwhelming, so that's one area that fans will hope to see expanded upon in 2025's game.

CFB 25 came to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, but not PC. Sources told The Athletic that CFB 25 skipped PC due in part to how the game's primary audience is in North America, whereas launching on PC is more important for global releases. Holt said EA "started" with Xbox and PlayStation, but said, "We'll look at other opportunities, other platforms" for future releases.

EA never disclosed a sales number for CFB 25, but it was the No. 2 overall best-selling game of 2024 in the US, only eclipsed by Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Holt said the game "outperformed all our expectations" and became "part of the cultural landscape of college football."

Another change for CFB 26 could be how much the student-athletes are paid to be part of it. The original deal for CFB 25 was a payment of $600 and a free copy of the game to more than 11,000 players, amounting to a total cost of more than $6 million for EA. Some players got more money for promoting the game. For CFB 26, a Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) company called Pathway Sports & Entertainment is attempting to sign players with $1,500 up front with the potential for a revenue-sharing deal as well based on copies sold. EA has not commented on Pathway's proposed plans.