EA Sports clever use of AI and $600 brings College Football 25 to life

One of EA's most popular games/franchises is its Madden NFL Series.

To create realistic replicas of professional players, EA game developers travel around the country to take 3-D scans of each player.

This technique, while creating extremely accurate virtualized avatars of the athletes, is not feasible for 11,000 college players.

Because finalized college rosters aren't available until late spring, and the game's set release was for mid-July, the developers had to act fast in perfecting and loading their players.

AI to the rescue.

EA used AI technology to create the athletes' video game doppelgängers in seconds through photos provided by their colleges, thus creating detailed players on an unprecedented timeline and scale.

EA offered each player $600 and an advanced copy of the game. Meetings regarding the NIL deal began in the spring. NIL directors explained the process through the Compass NIL App, an app designed to streamline NIL communication with athletes. and they were even able to sign their contracts through the app.

The deal was the same for most players. Accept the agreement and be in the game or not. EA reserves extra promotional packages and compensation for bigger names.

It's been years and a long road. But fans are now enjoying posing as their favorite teams on EA Sports College Football '25.