College football video games were some of the biggest out there right up until the infamous court case that prevented any new NCAA games from being created. After over a decade, EA finally made a return to the scene thanks to the rise of NIL with EA Sports College Football 25. I, alongside millions of other players, was ecstatic to get my hands on the game, and I was fortunate enough to check it out for review. While I was thrilled to see a return to college football video games, I felt there was a lot left to be desired.
Similar to EA’s Madden franchise, with another year comes another new game, aptly named EA Sports College Football 26. While I was skeptical about how much the annual release would improve, I’m thrilled to share that this year’s release brings many much-needed improvements. While CFB25 was a good return, CFB26 makes numerous refinements to bring the series closer to its true potential.
Run It Back
Let’s kick things off with some of the new additions this year. Right out of the gate, you’ll notice the updated visuals and lighting. The stadiums, fans, and players all look much better this year, offering a more realistic take than CFB25. It’s quite noticeable in every area, and I personally was not expecting an upgrade like this. Coaches are also added in the game, so you can see them all run out with each team. I definitely think the modeling needs some work for many of these coaches, but it’s another great step forward in capturing everything about a college football game day.
The realism-based additions do not stop there, with iconic team traditions like Michigan’s third quarter “Mr. Brightside” chant implemented in the game. Stadium Pulse also saw great changes, as things like nighttime or rivalry environments will add to the effects for opponents. Even though these are all quite small tweaks, they add up in the end to create an experience that easily tops last year’s.
One highly requested feature from last year was the return of Trophy Mode, and EA has brought that back at last. This area allows you to collect over 160 different tropies, complete with the date of achievement, team, and more. Trophies can be achieved across all modes, so you can even fill your cabinet through exhibition matches. The best part of this area in my mind is easily the Rivalry trophies, as this gives you an incentive to play every single rivalry in the game to complete the cabinet. A lot of players will likely stick to their school or a handful, so this can be an easy way to explore the wacky and unique traditions found across the nation.
On to modes, one of the biggest changes to Dynasty Mode this year is support for Cross-Play, so you can finally play with your friends if they play on another console. This was a huge missing piece of last year’s release, and my friend group unfortunately had to split across PlayStation 5 and Xbox. Now, we’re already in the process of setting up a massive league, so I’m glad this feature was finally added.
Another key update is for the Transfer Portal, which is now completely customizable. You can adjust how many players can transfer from a team and the transfer probability depending on dealbreakers. I really appreciated this change, as it allowed me to fine-tune my experience and make things as chaotic as I wanted. Considering 2,000 players can enter the portal, I say let the chaos ensue. Those who wish for a calmer cycle, though, can obtain that without issue.
There’s plenty more for Dynasty, and honestly, this seems to be the mode that got the most attention this year once again. You’ll find updates to skill groups, coach archetypes, custom conferences, and much more. I found Dynasty in CFB25 to be the most well-rounded mode with a few rough edges, and this year’s variant ended up being better with fewer issues.
I was a bit disappointed with the lack of meaningful updates to Road to Glory. Last year’s version was fine, but it lacked the depth and mechanics I’d hoped for. EA attempted to respond to player feedback regarding high school, but this essentially boils down to four key moments that define you as a player across five high school games. I still want more from this, with the end goal being a full high school season to determine where you go to college.
Finally, College Ultimate Team is largely the same as it was last year, but there are nice updates with Pack Helper, which immediately lets you know if a player is better than your current starter, and a few other QOL features. EA has committed to nine full seasons’ worth of content, which should keep fans of the mode happy with new content for longer.
If you enjoyed College Football 25 and its content offerings, I believe you’ll find College Football 26 even better. Even those disappointed with last year have the Trophy Room to look forward to, although things are mostly the same beyond that.
Call A Timeout
Many strides have been made, but there are still many improvements that I’d like to see. By far and away, the area that needs the most attention is the new player experience. Tutorials for EA Sports College Football 26 are incredibly barebones. As I tell everyone who asks me about this game, you are better off looking for written guides or YouTube videos because you will barely learn anything using EA’s materials. For a game as big as this, something has got to change. I know many college football fans who got overwhelmed by last year’s release the second they picked up a controller at a tailgate, and CFB26 has not made an effort to remedy that.
Sure, you can point to the minigames available to practice specific mechanics, but these do not serve as a proper tutorial. It is almost impossible not to be overwhelmed jumping in, as there are countless skills and mechanics you must learn properly to be able to even put up a fight against other players. The fact that the available minigame tutorials are hidden behind Ultimate Team is also an issue in itself. Next year, I hope to see EA implement a legitimate tutorial that is easily accessible from the main menu. Something like a three-game stretch that teaches you the game from all angles would be infinitely better than what we have now.
While I have encountered many fewer bugs than last year, one bug I faced this year was worse than everything in CFB25 combined. I had access to the game during the Deluxe Edition period, which brought three days of early access. While I was thrilled to jump in, I quickly realized upon loading into my first game that I’d have to wait: I was unable to snap the ball at all — no, I’m not kidding. Playing on PS5, poor John Mateer kept causing a delay of game because the game refused to recognize my Cross input to snap the ball. I tested four different PlayStation 5 DualSense controllers, yet I could not for the life of me get a fix. It wasn’t until launch day that a workaround was discovered, which required you to look at different audible menus before being able to snap. EA finally patched the issue with the July 15 update.
While this issue is fixed now, I feel that a bug of this magnitude being missed is flat-out unacceptable, especially considering that the early access fans paid $30 for was essentially useless because of it. My game allows me to snap the ball each time now, but a bug like this cannot be missed at launch — playing offense was legitimately impossible. There are still some lingering gameplay bugs that have not been fixed in addition to this, but I at least expect them to be squashed as more updates continue to roll out.
Steady Improvement, But There’s Room for More
EA Sports College Football 26 made more strides than I expected it to. I wasn’t expecting much of the feedback from last year to be addressed, yet a good number of it has. Trophy Room is excellent, the QOL updates to Dynasty are appreciated, and overall, gameplay feels better in some areas. This has evolved from a game with good bones to a really solid game that still has room for improvement. However, the major bugs present at launch and the lack of tutorial content for new players hold it back. The fact that this game was essentially unplayable for the most part at launch on PS5 is inexcusable, and regardless of that particular issue being fixed, it does not excuse the fact that numerous other bugs are still running rampant in various areas. Plus, even beyond these two issues, there are still areas inside each of the modes that can improve.
It’s hard to ask for huge revolutionary changes when the game, as it is, already has almost everything you can think of, in a way. Refinement is the name of the game with sports games, but regardless, this is still an annual release priced at $69.99. I always hope for new games to push the medium forward, and I’m interested to see how the EA Sports College Football series will revolutionize and rethink what’s possible in sports games. There are a lot of different directions EA can take going forward, and, for one, I hope one of them is a bug-free experience at launch.
Overall, EA Sports College Football 26 is a fun time for any college football fan. It’s the perfect game for watch parties, tailgates, or just lounging around in July, counting down the days til kickoff. EA made solid improvements to the good bones of last year’s release, offering a mostly complete package that has more than enough content to keep most college football fans satisfied. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go beat my rivals by seven touchdowns again.
Disclaimer: EA provided a PlayStation 5 copy of EA Sports College Football 26 for review purposes.
