New CFB video game is almost here. This is what Clemson sent to EA Sports

The most anticipated video game release of the year is almost here, and there’s a ton to look forward to if you’re a fan of the Clemson football team.

After months of teases and hype, EA Sports’ “College Football 25” will be released for PlayStation and Xbox next Friday on July 19, 2024, marking the first new game in 11 years in the beloved series previously known as “NCAA Football.”

The most recent game, “NCAA Football 14,” came out in summer 2013 before the series went on hiatus amid various lawsuits surrounding the use of college athletes’ names, images and likenesses in video games without permission or compensation.

Now, with college athletes able to benefit from their NIL since 2021, it’s almost go time for the new game. And Clemson, like its own motto, has gone “all in” on helping EA Sports create a true virtual Death Valley experience for gamers.

Through public records requests, The State obtained information on various visual and audio assets that the Clemson athletic department provided to EA Sports during an exhaustive information-gathering process for all 134 Division I FBS schools that began in January 2021 and continued through this year.

A college sending information, details or assets did not explicitly guarantee those submissions would show up in the game, and EA Sports had ultimate discretion over what to include or not include. But game developers have pledged to make things as realistic as possible and often touted that “every team is somebody’s favorite team” as their guiding principle in creating “College Football 25.”

Here’s a closer look at Clemson’s submissions for the game.

Gameday audio

EA Sports and its licensing partner, CLC, sent out an audio request sheet to every school and asked them to provide what songs their bands would play during specific moments in a game, such as a touchdown or a big third down on defense.

Clemson included information for what to play during 17 different instances during a home football game, some or all of which could pop up during users’ gameplay.

Click on each submission to hear the audio that Clemson submitted to EA Sports:

Editor's note: Viewing this story in our app? Click here to listen to the audio clips.

One other note: Clemson traditionally plays “Kernkraft 400,” a worldwide hit more commonly known as “Zombie Nation,” ahead of home game opening kickoffs.

The school submitted a 41-second snippet of that song for the “opening kickoff” spot on its audio spreadsheet, and “Zombie Nation” will indeed be used in the game for Clemson and other schools, as confirmed by The Athletic. It’s not included in the audio display above for copyright reasons.

Visual assets

Over 1,000 photos.

Details on the Textile Bowl and Palmetto Bowl trophies.

A beat-by-beat breakdown of helmet stickers.

There’s a reason that Clemson was one of the schools that EA Sports “College Football 25” game developers raved about back in May when the company invited a select group of journalists and content creators to its Orlando studios to demo the game.

Tigers football team spokesman Ross Taylor said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that there’s a group of people “deeply passionate about this game’s return” in the Clemson athletic department — and it shows.

Thanks to a group effort from staffers across the departments of football, athletic communications, equipment and creative photo/video, Clemson has given fans plenty to look forward to, according to correspondence obtained by The State via public records request.

As EA Sports designed virtual stadium models from scratch, it sent out instructions for schools to get 360-degree stadium shots from roughly 40 different spots.

In July 2021, two Clemson students, Alana McCallion and Max Knipstein, doubled that request and ended up taking photos from 84 spots.

The university submitted those pictures to EA Sports via Dropbox and included a map-style, numbered “stadium key” to help sort and label the thousand-plus photos, which provided a 360-degree view from key locations all across Death Valley: every major bleacher seating area from lower deck to upper deck, The Hill in the east end zone and, of course, the Tiger Paw at midfield and the sidelines.

In September 2022, Clemson sent another batch of pictures to EA Sports after a round of upgrades at Memorial Stadium. Among the changes highlighted and submitted: the school’s new video board (one of the largest in the country), new ribbon boards, a luxury club in the west end zone and new signage including a “Clemson Welcomes You to Death Valley” sign.

The university also provided extensive details on helmet stickers and football rivalry games, two other small details that EA Sports took significant interest in.

In summer 2022, the company requested information regarding schools’ helmet stickers, including close-up shots of stickers and how stickers should be filled in “over the course of the season,” hinting that they could possibly change on a weekly basis in certain game modes based on, say, a player’s performance or progression.

Clemson provided close-up shots of its helmet stickers — the team gives players Tiger Paw stickers for their helmets based on performance — and also looped in head football equipment manager Nick Yarid to give EA the professional lowdown.

Yarid explained: “We usually start on the left side right above the ACC decal that is on the back of the helmet. We will do two rows on the left side about 5 paws high.

“We will then move to the right side of the helmet above the American Flag and do three rows about 6 paws tall. After that, we try and balance both sides of the helmet to where they are pretty even.”

Last summer, EA and CLC also distributed a form for schools to provide information on their “top rivalry games,” with spots for the official name of the rivalry game, the corresponding school, the official trophy, the game’s logo and other details.

Clemson submitted details on its annual rivalry game with in-state foe South Carolina — since 2014, the winner of that game gets the Palmetto Bowl trophy featuring the state tree — and others, including the Textile Bowl trophy with N.C. State and the O’Rourke-McFadden Trophy with Boston College.

Given all that detail, as well as the Tigers’ national standing in the sport under coach Dabo Swinney, it wasn’t surprising to see Clemson pop up in various trailers for the game over recent months.

There were shots of quarterback Cade Klubnik under center and players preparing to run down The Hill in EA Sports’ original trailer, and the Textile Bowl trophy got some shine in an extended gameplay video.

EA Sports also revealed in a recent blog post that its team built a two-story ramp to replicate Clemson’s hill run-out and “hired stunt actors to give us their best jumps in the ‘middle’ of the hill and run down that ramp like they were getting ready to meet their rival for the biggest game of their lives.”

Where does Clemson rank?

Tigers fans (and the team’s official social media account) weren’t thrilled to see Memorial Stadium pop up at No. 12 on EA Sports’ “toughest places to play” ranking for the game, considering Clemson has the best home record in the FBS (72-3, 96%) since the game’s last release in summer 2013.

But Clemson was all over the rest of EA Sports’ rankings. Although those rankings are subject to change, the Tigers currently have the No. 10 offense (87 overall) and No. 3 defense (90 overall. tied with three others).

They’re also No. 6 in the overall team power rankings with a team rating of 90 and are the only ACC team to show up in the top 10. Florida State is the next highest team in that top 25 ranking at No. 12.

When does the game come out?

Friday, July 19, 2024, is the “worldwide launch date” for EA Sports College Football 25. The game will be available on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X (the most recent consoles for those brands). It will not be available to play on PC or any previous versions of the PlayStation and Xbox consoles.

The standard edition of the game is $69.99 plus tax, and the deluxe version of the game is $99.99 plus tax. The deluxe edition offers three-day early access starting July 16. You can pre-order the standard and deluxe versions online through July 18.