EA Sports is a mainstay of the gaming space, a cherished series for older gamers embodied by its old iconic start-up tagline: “It’s in the game”. That brand association still carries weight, seen most clearly by the nostalgic revival of one of EA Sports’ long-dormant series: College Football.
EA College Football 25 released on the 19th of July, marking a return to college football games that ceased 11 years ago with EA’s NCAA Football 14. Although EA had been making college football games since 1993 on the Sega Genesis, the franchise had used thinly-veiled stand-ins for real college football players against the strictures of the NCAA. In 2013, the conflict came to a head and EA was forced to discontinue the NCAA Football series. Then, in 2021, the law was repealed and EA decided to revamp the series under the title of EA College Football 25. This was a huge event, marking the first time college athletes had ever been paid to use their likeness.
In this article, we’re looking at the performance of this new entry in the EA Sports franchise, and the performance of sports games online, to see if player hype is translating onto live-streaming platforms.
EA Sports College Football 25 is a Welcome Return to the Classics
EA College Football 25 generated a massive amount of hype in the weeks leading up to its release. 2.2M gamers chose to play the game in early access – a privilege that required them to pay extra for the Deluxe Edition of the game. This tactic of charging extra for an exclusive head start on other players has been a recent trend in AAA gaming, also being used for the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows. These players accessed the game on July 16th as a result.
However, looking just at the first week performance of the game as tracked from the official release date of July 19th still reveals a staggering influx of online viewership. In its debut week, EA College Football 25 generated 3.8M hours watched on live streaming with a peak viewership of 122K. This combined turnout from players and viewers alike can no doubt be partly attributed to the support of colleges and communities themselves, with many IRL events propping up the game’s release.
The EA Sports Brand Carries Weight with Sports Game Fans
Although these figures are incredibly impressive, they still pale in comparison to the most popular EA Sports game on live streaming. EA FC 24 brought in a whopping 26.1M hours watched in the first week of its release – over 6x the popularity of EA College Football 25. In fairness, EA FC 24 outperformed every single other recent EA Sports title, including the very popular Madden NFL 24. The reason for EA FC 24’s immense popularity is no doubt due to football’s worldwide popularity, with the series replacing the FIFA games series after they ended their licensing deal back in 2023.
It’s worth noting that EA Sports games are not just about their launch performance, but the longevity of the titles. While EA Sports games are released once a year, they generally have long tails in both active users and online viewers due to their endlessly replayable nature. This mimics multiplayer live service games which use seasons (instead of new titles) to maintain a loyal following.
Sports Game Viewership Overall is Wavering on Live Streaming
Although EA Sports is experiencing a resurgence, the same can’t be said for all sports games on live-streaming. While other genres are beginning to rebound after the COVID-era bump, sports game viewership is falling off. Looking at a mix of many sport types from football to billiards shows monthly sports game viewership for Q2 2024 sitting at just 171M hours watched – the lowest it’s been in four years.
The highest ever monthly sports game viewership came part way through COVID in Q4 2020 at 342M hours watched. Analysis of sports game sales from this period by Sensor Tower reveals that the most popular titles were mainly mobile games, including 8 Ball Pool and EA’s own Golf Clash. This may provide an insight into how sports games can rebound – mobile sport games might be the way forward. In fact, Konami’s eFootball mobile game has brought in an impressive 13.7M hours watched since its release in September of 2023.
One other clear trend emerges: Q4 of each year always sees a rise in viewership. This consistent Q4 bump probably has a link to actual sports, with both football and NFL having their season over the winter period (the end of the year). As explained, these two sports are by far the most popular on live streaming which explains the bump in viewership from gee’d up viewers of live sports.
Off the back of the hype for college football, and with the popularity of the NFL itself continuing to rise, we may see a resurgence in sports game viewership. For now, EA will hope to replicate this success by continuing to reach out to new sports organizations and form mutually beneficial partnerships. Stream Hatchet will be watching when EA FC 25 and EA Madden NFL 25 release in the next couple of months.
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