One of Ohio State’s biggest stars won’t appear in EA Sports College Football 25.
Ohio State defensive end JT Tuimoloau is absent from the Buckeyes’ initial roster for the video game. A source told Eleven Warriors that he chose not to opt into EA Sports’ licensing agreement, which offered players $600 and a free copy of the game in exchange for the right to use their name, image and likeness.
Tuimoloau is the highest-profile player missing from Ohio State’s video game roster, but not the only one. Left tackle Josh Simmons is also absent from OSU’s launch roster for EA Sports College Football 25, as is tight end Jelani Thurman. Other scholarship Buckeyes who aren’t in the game – at least not yet – are wide receiver Mylan Graham, wide receiver/tight end Damarion Witten, offensive linemen Ian Moore, Gabe VanSickle and Miles Walker, defensive ends Eddrick Houston and Dominic Kirks, defensive tackle Will Smith Jr., linebacker Garrett Stover and punter Nick McLarty.
Even with the absence of Tuimoloau, Ohio State still leads all teams with eight players ranked among the game’s top 100 players: Caleb Downs (95), Quinshon Judkins (95), Emeka Egbuka (93), TreVeyon Henderson (93), Jack Sawyer (92), Denzel Burke (91), Donovan Jackson (91) and Tyleik Williams (91).
Ohio State received the second-highest overall team rating in the game (93) behind only Georgia, led by the game’s highest-rated defense (96) and fifth-highest-rated offense (89).
EA Sports College Football 25 is the first college football video game to be released in 11 years. EA Sports’ previous college football video game franchise, NCAA Football, was discontinued after NCAA Football 14 due to legal challenges against the game using players’ likenesses without compensation. EA Sports College Football 25 is the first college sports video game ever to include teams’ actual players identified by their names as NCAA rules now allow athletes to be compensated for their name, image and likeness.
EA Sports College Football 25 will be officially released for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on Friday, with early access for deluxe edition preorders beginning at 4 p.m. Monday.
