Here's what I know about athlete likenesses and EA Sports College Football 25

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Much of my reporting on the development of EA Sports College Football has come via Open Records Requests. These requests have helped me understand what type of assets EA asked for, project timelines for the game, and much more.

I have a running thread on Twitter that highlights much of the school-specific game assets submitted, if you’re curious about what type of helmets Kennesaw State shared, or how many times the Oklahoma band will play Boomer Sooner. Apparently, there are a lot of people who care very deeply about that.

The bulk of my documents-based reporting has centered on school-specific atmosphere and presentation, or nitty-gritty intellectual property and licensure questions. But this week, I was able to get an update on another question I am regularly asked by readers.

How is the player likeness stuff going to work?

Unlike previous editions of college football video games, this year, EA can use real player name, image and likeness assets, instead of using “randomized” player likenesses. EA has partnered with a group licensing company called One Team Partners to help facilitate the collection of those licenses.

But there are over 130 FBS programs, each with 85 scholarship players. Getting all, or even most of those licenses won’t just be a massive logistical and administrative task, but a technical one.

As one EA communication I’ve inspected says, “…our team expects to create more human likenesses at one time than has ever been attempted in video game history.”

And that process has been underway for a while.

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