Last week, EA College Football 25 launched and people went wild, with the game already becoming one of the biggest titles of 2024. But some fans on Xbox, perhaps not as familiar with video games, are frustrated after buying the new college football simulator and discovering that it doesnât play on their console. Let us explain.
EA College Football 25 launched on July 19 after a short early access period for those willing to pay the publisherâs ransom fee. The game is a big deal, as the last major college football game developed by EA, NCAA Football 14, was released in 2013, more than a decade ago. Since then players have used mods to try and keep the aging Xbox 360/PS3-era football game up-to-date with the real world. Thankfully, fans got a new game this month. However, due to a confusing situation, some people are buying the game, only to discover theyâre not actually able to play EA College Football 25.
If you look at Amazon, Walmart, Reddit, and EAâs official forums, youâll find that someXbox One owners purchased College Football 25 and canât play it. Thatâs because the new football sim is only available on current-gen platforms, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. On PlayStation, this is fairly simple. PS5 games canât work on PS4. They look different, too. But on Xbox, itâs a mess. Microsoft currently sells or has sold an Xbox Series X, an Xbox Series S, an Xbox One X, an Xbox One S, and even at one point a basic Xbox One. So itâs not surprising to see so many Xbox players leaving negative reviews online after buying the game and realizing they canât play it.
âI have an Xbox One X. I did research and saw the X/S and Ones can use Series X games and it doesnât even allow me to play. It says it is not compatible and you canât even return the item because once you open the packaging itâs no good and considered used. Waited so long for this game and used to play the old ones just to find out I spent $75 on a game I canât play,â said one user on Amazon.
âI donât play video games but my son wanted the game so I bought it for them. Now it doesnât work and I spent $65 on it,â said someone on Reddit.
âI need to return this I donât have the right Xbox for this,â posted a person on Walmartâs website.
Over on Targetâs store page for the game, you can find tons of questions about which Xbox console it will work on, which one has a disc drive, which one doesnât, if the digital version works on last-gen machines, and so on.
This is a really confusing situation
Now, you are someone who reads Kotaku. You likely understand that while almost all Xbox One games are playable on Series X, no Series X games are natively playable on the older consoles. But itâs a pretty confusing mess for people who might only play a few games a year, which could be a large chunk of EA College Footballâs fanbase.
However, things get even more confusing when you look at how some Xbox games come in plastic cases that list both Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One. In fact, what with the ever-increasing blurring of console generations, a lot of games are playable on both and sold as such. And then you have the other wrinkle that, technically you can play some Xbox Series X/S games on an Xbox One via cloud streaming.
Oh and letâs add even more confusion to the mix. Madden 25, which is out in August, is launching on Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One. And EAâs Madden series has been playable on Xbox One since 2013âs entry, which was confusingly named Madden 25, which is also the name of the new one coming out later this year. Sigh. Anyway, I imagine a ton of people playing Madden every year on Xbox One are the same people excited to play EA College Football 25 this year.
In fact, those people might have bought the currently available bundle that comes with both Madden NFL 25 and EA College Football 25. Hereâs the weird catch: Madden NFL 25 is still coming out on Xbox One this year. So that bundle contains a game playable on both generations of console and a game playable on only one. Phew. Itâs enough to make even my head start to spin.
Should these buyers have done more research? Maybe. Does Xboxâs store state directly that you canât play EA College Football 25 on Xbox One? Yesâin somewhat small print, but yes. The warning is there. But this whole situation is so confusing and silly that I donât blame folks for thinking EAâs latest sports game would, like Maddens before and upcoming, play on Xbox One. And I donât blame them for getting frustrated to find out thatâs not the case.
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