After having to sit back and watch those who pre-ordered the Deluxe Edition or MVP Bundle enjoy three days of early access, it's now time for the rest of us "Standard Edition" players to take to the field. EA Sports College Football 26 officially launches today for everyone, but like early access, it isn't a midnight release.
Unfortunately, we'll once again have to wait until mid-day before we can hit the gridiron. According to EA's pre-order page, EA Sports College Football 26 will launch at 12 PM EDT on July 10th, 2025. That's actually the same time early access kicked off, so if you need a reminder of the global release times, here it is:
- L.A. (PDT) - July 7th at 9:00 a.m. PDT
- Denver (MDT) - July 7th at 10:00 a.m. MDT
- Chicago (CDT) - July 7th at 11:00 a.m. CDT
- New York (EDT) - July 7th at 12:00 p.m. EDT
- Sao Paulo (BRT) - July 7th at 1:00 p.m. BRT
- London (BST) - July 7th at 5:00 p.m. BST
- Paris/Berlin (CEST) - July 7th at 6:00 p.m. CEST
- Tokyo (JST) - July 8th at 2:00 a.m. JST
- Sydney (AEST) - July 8 at 3:00 a.m. AEST
EA Sports College Football 26 is the second installment in the newly revamped college football video game series from EA Sports. The series made its highly anticipated return last year after more than a decade, and while it wasn't perfect, it was definitely loved by fans.
EA Sports College Football 25, which released in July 2024, saw more than 5 million unique players in its first week, and nearly $500 million in sales during the same period. It eventually went on to become the best-selling sports game ever in the United States.
EA has made substantial improvements to all areas of this year's game, including addressing fan feedback and implementing many requested features. In addition to new offensive and defensive mechanics, players can also look forward to improved blocking and coverages, dynamic substitutions, expanded player types and abilities, enhanced Stadium Pulse effects, and more.
The playbook is in your hands. Take your career from high school recruit to Heisman or coach your team to the top. With thousands of new plays, players and upgraded abilities, there are more ways than ever to Bring Glory Home.
I have been particularly pleased with the amount of effort put into Dynasty, especially the revamped transfer portal and recruiting system. Normally we see EA tend to focus on its Ultimate Team since that's where all the post-launch money is, but Dynasty has seen quite a few improvements this year.
EA Sports College Football 26 is available today, exclusively for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Unlike Madden 26, it is not being released for PC or Nintendo Switch 2.