EA Sports College Football 26 Adds Dynamic Times of Day, Epic Runouts, and More Mascots

EA Sports introduces several new features and improvements to this year’s College Football, whether it’s the addition of new Archetypes, Block Steering or more than 2,800 new plays. However, it’s also making significant improvements to authenticity and immersion. Design director Christian Brandt outlined some of these new additions, including lighting improvements and dynamic time of day.

It’s taking things even further for the latter with Regional Time of Day. As Brandt notes, “A 6 PM kickoff in Chestnut Hill will look different from a 6 PM kickoff in Austin, reflecting each location’s unique lighting.” There’s also Seasonal Time of Day, with days ending sooner in months like November than in September.

Pageantry is another major area of improvement with better runouts that will now change depending on the occasion. Epic Runouts include light shows, drones and other production highlights for high-stakes games. You can expect unique light shows for teams like Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee, NC State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Texas State, UCF, Boston College, Notre Dame, Rutgers, and UCLA, each tailored towards their colors and identity.

You also have Standard Runouts (which also offer much pageantry), Quick Runouts, and Road to Glory Runouts, which offer a “more personal view where you are actually in the runout from tunnel to running across the field.” The camera is player-controlled in this case, allowing you to look at the crowds with the right stick.

And if all that isn’t enough, the roster of mascots has been significantly expanded, with dozens more joining. EA Sports College Football 26 launches on July 10th for Xbox Series X/S and PS5.