This is perhaps my last review of an EA title, because I think I’m going to be off of their Christmas card list in about 1500 words. But, I’ve always been honest with you about products we review, and I will again today.
College Sports
EA College Football ‘26 Review: A prettier package disguising a far worse game
TL/DR: This is a disappointment in far too many respects, with far too few improvements to justify the $70-110 price point. And, improbably, the game is worse than last year’s rechristening.
After a long hiatus, the venerable EA Sports College Football franchise returned last season. We were, for the most part, very complimentary of those efforts. Sure, there were some warts. The game was a bit bare bones next to previous installments released a decade ago. There was definite jank. But there was still a lot to love, and like all new loves, those surface-level sins were able to be overlooked. Had the experience been 18-20 hours, the mostly-positive praise would have remained.
However, like a long-term relationship, some of the game’s flaws were not readily apparent — they took a long time to manifest, and only oozed to the surface after dozens and dozens of hours spent engaging with the game. Sadly, some of them would prove to be near fatal, particularly immersion, interactivity, and the core game play loop: Bad blocking AI, unrealistic DB mechanics, lack of cross-platform progression, lack of formation subs, uneven difficulty spikes, Road to Glory modes, online matchmaking etc.
It somewhat soured us on the title. EA assured players that changes would be forthcoming. However, after we accessed the closed beta for CFB 2026, we were not pleased with the dribs and drabs of gameplay that had been released to us.
Well, anyone who is not a shill, anyway.
Many promises were made, but it looked like the same ole’ EA: outlandish promises teetering on the edge of vaporware, heavy emphasize on monetization, and too little in-game changes to meaningfully notice.
Then the full evaluation copy was released, and once the surface-level trappings were removed, our worst fears were confirmed…then some.
EA CFB 2026 on its face is a somewhat better user experience than 2025, though the skeleton of the franchise is readily familiar to anyone who’s picked up a Bill Walsh or CFB title anytime in the last 30 years. We won’t cover that — presumably everyone reading this has played some version of this (or Madden). So we’ll go over what EA got right, what improved, what remains lacking, and the games failures: which are plentiful and overshadow what fun is to be had here.
There are some genuinely cool things in here, but most are immersion-related. I’m not saying those are unnecessary; to the contrary, that was our biggest gripe last year. And it’s clear the dev team spent much time on making it a prettier, more lively game.
- The crowd dynamics and NPC faces have been improved. Coaches may not always resemble themselves, but EA did add real ones to the sidelines. Coach customization has been improved. It is, of course, a beautiful experience on the field and in those aerial panoramas.
- Dynamic lighting has been added, which makes for a sumptuous visual feast — and it only took the largest game company in the world a decade to do what Witcher 3 included a decade ago. Afternoon games turning to night is genuinely awesome. The overhead sun at noon grows into one that blasts the visitor’s bench by the fourth quarter. It feels right, and EA should be applauded for it.
- The left stick controls are a lot more responsive and more fluid. Last year, they were overly stiff and a little sluggish. That has been corrected, and all to the good. Hallelujah.
- There are far more musical selections now, instead of the drumline menu screen that drove everyone nuts. Relatedly, the devs built in some stadium- and team-specific intros: Seven Nation Army at South Carolina, Enter Sandman in Blacksburg, Swag Surfing at Auburn, etc. Fantastic. More of this, please.
- We finally got position and personnel subs, absent from last year’s game. Even better, you can do these on the fly, and sub in and out before the snap. Excellent feature.
- And, well…that’s about it.
- The landing menu has changed. Last year’s menu was at least neutral. This one is apt to be divisive. Like some major media outfits who shall remain nameless, it seems like a change was made for the sake of change. The UX is not improved, and some may find it more confusing.
- EACFB26 added hundreds of new plays. And choice is always good, right? In some cases, it is. There are far more motion plays this year, and the game even included double shifts (which you will use for motion-based offenses like ‘Bama’s scheme). The problem lies in that too few of the plays are effective, and in many cases the reliance on play-action, runs you right into the teeth of one of the game’s worst features: blocking (we’ll cover that in a moment).
- Home field advantage matters a lot more in EACFB26. But, as we see throughout the game, it is overcorrected: Even routine plays are difficult to execute over the “Home Pulse” feature. “But that’s how it should be,” I can hear you say, “road games are meant to be hard.” Sure, in Death Valley or Autzen or the Horseshoe — not if you bring Georgia for a game in Toledo’s Glass Bowl. There are no shades of gray here. Home field is home field, by god, and you will be punished for playing on the road. If EA were in charge of last year’s Alabama-Wisconsin game, that score would have been flipped.
- The game overall feels and plays slower. For those who want a casual experience, having more time to process is a bonus. But for anyone who’s played prior titles, the nerf will be noticeable and highly frustrating.
- On the whole, recruiting is significantly more difficult. They did add geographic-location based recruiting, and that’s much needed: Georgia should be having more success in Georgia than Ole Miss is. But the trade they made was apparently making recruiting far, far harder no matter your school— from blue bloods to UTEP.
- They spent a lot of time adding more immersive color analysis. For instance, I had lost three straight SEC games with my expansion-era Eastern Michigan Eagles, and Rece noted that, as well as brought up our general struggles with pass blocking throughout the season. It was cool to hear that sort of stuff in the preview. Like dynamic lighting, it’s one of those changes that feels so natural, it’s almost jarring that it was never there before. However, much of the confused or irrelevant banter in the booth remains, as does the sometimes irrelevant analysis at breaks. That’s to be expected with a game that records 300,000 lines of dialogue, I suppose. But it is baffling how choice-based RPGs can get situation, disposition, and outputs right, and a sports title cannot.
- There is a trophy case now, but it is one filled with mostly 2D cards — 15 years ago, we had 3D modeled trophies, individual awards, and rivalry trinkets.
- The fatigue system is still imbalanced: Once you’re worn down (and it happens early), you’re flirting with injury for the next three quarters. It was a problem last year and it remains unresolved.
- There is still no way to meaningfully preview opponents — features that EA included 20 years ago.
- There is still a paucity of individual statistics, player stats during award seasons, and the like — again, something older titles had.
- The Road to the CFP mode still will not let you use custom playbooks or schemes.
- Think you’re getting a better tutorial or more documentation? LOL. That would require work. You get a copy-paste of last year’s.
- The newly-revamped Road to Glory High School mode still will not allow you to play many positions. Worse, you can’t even play full high school games; you’re limited to playing one of a handful of key plays to make or break your legacy.
- Relatedly, once you do get snatched up by a college out of high school, you will find the depth chart AI frightfully bad. My poor quarterback signed to Washington State with the guarantee I would at least be third string. I finally earned a start, went on a four-game winning streak, and even in a victory where I went 4/1, for 291 yards on 70.1% passing, I found myself benched the next game for the interception. Huh? The idea of a progression system from HS to college has always been great, but the AI execution here leaves much to be desired.
- Battle passes, player packs, ultimate teams, and more ridiculous pay-to-win Surprise Mechanics that EA has become notorious for. Surprised? Of course, not. But it is disappointing.
- You definitely don’t want to randomize weather: you’ll be playing 80% of your games in the rain. It was so noticeable, I started a dynasty using Arizona State, and after simming through the season, it rained in 7 of 8 home games…in Tempe.
- You still can’t export your draft class to Madden.
- The game was supposed to introduce “physics-based tackling,” but absolutely no one has noticed that effect. Indeed, given the limitations of the Frostbite engine, you cannot have physics-based tackling. The former Creative Director of the Madden franchise explains why:
- After being told repeatedly that the transfer portal was in need of TLC, EA somehow made the experience worse. The new portal will gut half of your roster, impose literally impossible conditions for retaining players, and once a player decides he’s on the fence you can write him off — there is no amount of incentive that will permit you to talk him into staying (or staying eligible, if he’s iffy on the pros). Overcorrection seems to be a theme with the game’s failures, however. After last year’s release, when you could unrealistically retain a super team almost indefinitely, the pendulum swung way too far in the other direction, one that is also unrealistic.
- It is outright unacceptable that in 2025, you cannot create a school with your buddy or brother or missus, then play an offline couch co-op. And the couch co-op that is present, is remarkably difficult to set up. We eventually just gave up entirely.
- Blocking. Whoo boy, blocking. Much attention was given this year to “improved blocking,” decisional trees for you to control blocking assignments and the like…and not a single thing has been improved. In fact, it’s far worse, especially against the pass rush. Stupid doesn’t even begin to describe it:
- Positively wretched. I’m not going to waste 15 minutes when you can see the problem in 15 seconds. It is like that with every PC-controlled team. The AI opponent will block like 2012 Alabama.
- Game balance has always been a problem with some aspects of the franchise. That’s been true whether you’re a 5-star rush end racking up 48 sacks en route to the Heisman or a 2000-yard receiver at Kent State. But so rarely will you find a game so busted, so perfectly imbalanced, that it seems to be by design — you will never be able to have a clean pocket in this game on AA sliders, or even default modes. Ever. You will never be able to execute a play-action pass without at least one defender coming free and shattering your jaw. And you will never be able to have your RB pick up a blitzer on slow-developing plays because the computer will never be fooled, even if you’ve crammed the ball down their throat on 13 straight plays. Think I’m exaggerating? Trust me: You’re always better with a quick boot or an RPO.
- RTDB has become much more difficult, at least as the game was released. You may as well give up any sort of counter plays or other plays that are slow developing, require getting to the edge, or use motion and misdirection. You can’t block, remember? Allegedly, this has been fixed in a recent patch — but the general consensus is that EA went to far in the other direction…again. Now, running is far too easy. I cannot verify, because after about 50 hours with this frustrating game, I simply deleted it two weeks ago.
- Those ballyhooed coverage mechanics? Be prepared to drop every interception thrown into your mitts (even with a 99-level DB), as every opposing cornerback morphs into Pat Surtain II. In some fairness, the awareness AI is a bit better this year…but that only applies to man-coverage. Zone defense is useless in this game, and actually regressed in utility from last year. Until you run into plays that are utterly impossible to be stopped by the computer: I hope you like 5-yard underneath drags. You can throw 57 of them in a row against defense whatsoever. And, the flipside is true. You can double guys, play underneath zone, etc, and drags will always be open against you.
- There are simply too many more to list. If there is an element of football to be played on the field, it’s most likely executed poorly: Either it was never corrected from last year or — all too often — they’ve made it worse.
I wanted to love this game. It is a beautiful title, and a lot of small immersive touches were added that are improvements over last year’s stripped-down release.
But when blocking is this bad, when games are so imbalanced, when half of your playbook is unavailable or impractical, when running becomes either impossible or childishly easy, when pass coverage is a chore, when every road trip plays like an away game in Neyland, when the transfer portal is so broken, what’s left?
A lot of sound and fury, that’s what remains. It is a victim of AAA’s modern trend towards putting their eggs in the audio-visual basket, and ignoring the actual game.
Sure, it has some neat immersion features, and a few QOL improvements that should have been in CFB ‘25. But almost all of those improvements could have been accomplished with a patch or as a point release. In fact, I wish EA would have just charged $30 and sold ‘26 as a DLC to build upon the skeleton of last year’s game. Because what remains here is a genuinely unpleasant playing experience, all wrapped up in a far prettier package. And at its heart, it is just so damn lazy.
Bottom Line: I cannot recommend paying $70 for EA College Football ‘26…or paying for this game at all. You’ll have far more fun, and save money to boot, if you just buy last year’s release on a storefront sale.