EA Sports College Football 25 hits shelves in less than two weeks. As fans of the sport and/or the video game patiently wait for that release, Electronic Arts revealed its deep dive into Dynasty Mode on Tuesday.
Dynasty Mode Offers EA Sports College Football 25 Users In-Depth Realignment Options of Super League Proportions
It wasn’t too long ago that the powerbrokers behind college football floated the potential for a super league. In EA Sports College Football 25, gamers can make that proposal a reality.
In the “Dynasty Deep Dive” revealed by the game manufacturer and narrated by Kirk Herbstreit, the ability to control conference realignment will be a significant element of the much-beloved game mode.
“You can reduce any conference to as few as four members and grow any conference to as large as 20 schools,” EA said in a release on its Dynasty Mode. “In addition to moving schools into different conferences, you can have a school go Independent for the ultimate in schedule flexibility (but remember it comes at the expense of a potential first-round bye in the CFP).”
Currently, the NCAA mandates a minimum of eight teams to form a conference, although the Pac-12 has a two-year grace period to bolster their numbers from two to the required amount. The Big Ten, establishing itself at the forefront of the realignment arms race, will have 18 teams in the upcoming college football season.
What Else Can Fans Expect in Dynasty Mode?
Developers wanted gamers to have a deep experience representative of the current college football landscape, including the roster management and talent acquisition components of the sport.
The game will allow users to feel what it’s like to be a coach in the new game, and the recruiting version of Dynasty Mode got a complete upgrade in addition to the coaching carousel and the ability to build your own head coach.
“What we found was that both current and former coaches broadly fit into three main categories,” EA said in a release on its Dynasty Mode. “Some are incredible recruiters, while others are motivators who maximize the potential of their players, and lastly tacticians out-scheme their opponents with on-field X’s and O’s.”
Of course, there is the very real likelihood that any one coach is not simply a one-trick pony but a hybrid across many of these categories.
“After breaking down hundreds of coaches, two things were loud and clear: no coach was great at everything, and there is no single path to being a great coach.”
The game’s dynasty mode is centered around three pillars: “Build Your Coach,” “Build Your Program,” and “Deliver the World of College Football.”
Players progress their coach by playing games. “As you play, you will complete coach goals that award XP. Once you earn enough XP, you will level up your coach and be awarded Coach Points. Coach Points can be used to upgrade your coach’s abilities.”
The four XP Coach categories are as follows: Draft, Game, Recruiting, and Stats. There will also be an archetype-based coach abilities system.
“All coaches will start with a base class or coach archetype,” the EA release explains, “which can be thought of as your special ability in a traditional RPG. Just like our real-life coaches, the base archetypes fall into three categories: Recruiting, Motivation (think player development and program culture), and Scheme (on field X’s and O’s).”
Players are able to augment their performance in those categories as the game progresses and have choices to become an expert in one — such as a scheme specialist — or more of a hybrid coach who is stronger in multiple areas without being a maestro in something specific.
The coaching path ultimately begins when the first contract is signed, whether as a head coach, offensive coordinator, or defensive coordinator. Regardless of that decision, the roles have full recruiting responsibilities and do not specify a side of the ball during the games (i.e., you control the defense even if you are an offensive coordinator).
The contracts bring about reachable goals, such as winning a specified number of games or seeking a conference championship.
Of course, meeting those coaching goals involves also being a great recruiter to bring in the players you need to meet those goals. EA Sports College Football 25 features a detailed recruiting process in multiple stages: discovery, pitch, and close.
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You can choose how to approach each recruiting process and how much effort you want to put into going after certain players. As is the very real case in 2024, this also involves managing and overseeing the transfer portal.
Ultimately, gamers will finally be able to use dynasty mode in EA Sports College Football 25 as soon as it’s released on July 19, with early access available on July 16 for some users.
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