EA Sports College Football 25 Attracts 2.2 Million Players Prior To Official Launch

Friday is the official launch of EA Sports College Football 25 ... but fans who dropped a few extra bucks were able to get their hands on it earlier this week -- and the player count is mind-blowing!!

According to Electronic Arts, since the game had a soft launch on Monday ... 2.2 million unique players have stepped onto the virtual gridiron to give the company's return to college football a try. In addition, EA's subscription service, EA Play, saw 600,000 players take advantage of the trial period.

Ever since the company announced the game back in February 2021, anticipation has been through the roof ... as fans were without a new installment following the release of NCAA Football 14 in 2013.

The deluxe edition of the game was priced at $99 ... meaning those who coughed up the $30 extra got a head start on all the action.

For background, the game ceased development after EA Sports was named in a lawsuit filed against the NCAA by Ed O'Bannon. The former UCLA hooper argued the NCAA was wrongfully using athletes' likenesses commercially.

Back then, collegiate athletes could not profit from their name, image, and likeness before going pro. It wasn't until July 2021 the NCAA approved its NIL policy ... allowing athletes to make some money -- think of Olivia Dunne and Shedeur Sanders, who are certainly taking advantage.