Coinciding with the NFL draft, EA officially announced the next games in their football simulation series: College Football 26 and Madden NFL 26. College Football 26 is slated to hit store shelves July 10, 2025, and Madden NFL 26 arrives a month later on August 14.
No cover athletes for either game have been announced yet, but expect them to be revealed as marketing ramps up over the next couple months. College Football will arrive on only PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S–eschewing a PC release–while Madden NFL 26 will not only arrive on PC but on the Nintendo Switch 2 as well. Both games will skip last-gen platforms.
From High School to the Pros
“From high school recruit to NFL legend, experience the entire football journey with EA SPORTS College Football 26 Deluxe Edition and Madden NFL 26 Deluxe Edition,” reads the official description of the announcement trailer, implying high school games will make a return to College Football 26’s Road to Glory mode.
In Road to Glory, you’ll be able to create a custom player and guide him throughout his career, from high school to winning the national championship in college. Like previous versions of the series, you’ll be able to import your player from College Football to Madden’s Superstar mode, picking up his career with an eye on bringing home Lombardis.
College Football 25 only included five positions in Road to Glory: Quarterback, Running Back, Wide Receiver, Middle Linebacker, and Cornerback. We’ll have to see if College Football 26’s RTG mode – and, by extension, Madden NFL 26’s Superstar mode – add to the available positions by including Tight Ends, Safeties, or Kickers, for example.
Deluxe Edition Information
Both games will have a three-day early access window for those who purchase the deluxe editions. They’ll include a bunch of Ultimate Team packs, College Football and Madden Points, an XP boost, and more.
Interestingly, it appears the deluxe editions are only available for the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S editions of the games. The CUT Exclusive Elite Player Item and MUT Exclusive Elite Player Item are notably exclusive only to the MVP bundle, which collects the deluxe editions of both games.
Madden NFL 26 Deluxe Edition Add-ons
There are also several preorder bonuses for both the deluxe and regular editions of the games. Returning customers–those who own last year’s College Football or one of the three previous Maddens–are eligible for a 10% discount on their preorders.
Last summer’s College Football 25 was the first college football game in 11 years after a long and contentious fight to get college athletes paid for usage of their name, image, and likeness (NIL). Now that college athletes can be paid, EA revitalized its college football series, and paid each athlete that appeared in last year’s game $600 each.
t eventually went on to become the best-selling sports game in US history in terms of dollar sales, according to Circana.
Sources: EA
