EA Sports College Football 25 Has 10K+ Athletes Opted Into Game Ahead of Release Date

Real rosters are coming to EA Sports College Football 25.

EA Sports announced Monday that more than 10,000 athletes have opted into being featured in the upcoming game. Insider Matt Brown noted the number represents approximately 90 percent of the eligible athletes who could sign on, underscoring how quickly EA Sports has mobilized efforts when it comes to including current players.

"The response to the athlete opt-in opportunity for EA Sports College Football 25 has been phenomenal," EA Sports spokesperson Daryl Holt said in a statement, per ESPN's Adam Rittenberg.

"In the little over one week, over 10,000 athletes across the FBS have opted in to the offer with more saying 'yes' every hour. We're excited to welcome more athletes in the weeks ahead and to debut this first class of athletes in the game when it launches this summer."

Rittenberg noted players were given the ability to opt into their name, image and likeness being used in the game in exchange for $600 and a copy of it once it is released.

EA Sports vice president of business development Sean O'Brien said the company decided on the $600 figure by studying agreements in place for other sports games, including the Madden NFL series.

Some of the most notable returning stars to college football have already announced their decisions to be in the game:

There has been plenty of anticipation for the latest edition of the game, especially since the last version was NCAA Football 14.

Previous editions of the game often featured correct uniform numbers and approximated player ratings for college football players but could not use their names, images or likenesses because NIL rules were not in place.

The creation of such rules allows players to be a part of the process and get paid for their participation.

EA Sports released a teaser trailer and production images for the game last month and announced the game's full reveal will happen in May:

The game will be released before the new college football season kicks off in late August, so fans will not have to wait as long to talk trash to their school's rivals when they hit the virtual gridiron for the first time in nearly a decade.