Shacknews Best Comeback of 2024 - EA Sports College Football 25

Over the last decade, nearly all hope had been lost on ever seeing a college football video game again. With the tides rapidly changing in college sports over player likenesses and rights, there was reason to believe that publisher Electronic Arts would never go back to university-level football. With the Madden NFL franchise continuing to sell, there wasn't much incentive to do so. Things changed in 2024 and EA took a chance on the college game. The result is an epic comeback story led by EA Sports College Football 25.

It almost feels mean to say that College Football 25's greatest strength is that it's not Madden. With that said, one of its greatest strengths is indeed that it operates differently with a more arcade-like presentation, less emphasis on rules, and a greater sense of freedom in play selection. With Revamped Passing, the game feels noticeably different than many of EA's previous football titles, utilizing a meter to help players with the arc and accuracy of their passes. Concepts like the Wear & Tear system encourage strategy over time and help feed returning features like Dynasty Mode.

College wouldn't be college without a presentation that delivers that sense of being at a rivalry game or rallying on a university campus. College Football 25 is designed with that college experience in mind, especially when it comes to rivalry games and playing on hostile turf. The level of detail, from the drumlines to the mascots, is a wonder to witness, but leaves enough room for improvement that EA can make this package even better on the series' next outing.

EA Sports College Football 25 was a big deal for Electronic Arts in 2024. It would be enough if this was merely EA's leap back into the college game. However, it was also an indisputable success, going from the best-selling U.S. football game of all-time to becoming the best-selling sports video game, period. That's an astonishing achievement, truly worthy of the Shacknews Best Comeback of 2024.

Be sure to read over the rest of the Shacknews Awards in our Year of the Games: 2024 feature.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?