College Football 26 Server Maintenance Schedule Prior to Full Launch
Attention, football fans. College Football 26 is temporarily suspending play. EA Sports announced that College Football 26 servers will be going offline for scheduled maintenance early in the morning on Thursday, July 10 – only hours before the full game launches for standard edition players.
When will College Football 26 servers go down?
According to a statement from EA Sports, scheduled maintenance will begin July 10, 2025, at 6 AM ET. During this maintenance, all online modes will be completely inaccessible, including the fan-favourite Team Builder. Those looking to finish their late-night games or jump into a morning session will want to finish up before that time or risk leaving the game mid-game without saving progress.
"Server maintenance will begin tomorrow, Thursday July 10th at 6 AM ET. During this time, all online modes and Team Builder will be unavailable. Please be sure to finish all online games before maintenance begins!" – EA Sports
What Is the Downtime for?
The brief downtime will happen today during the transition to full release, as College Football 26 officially launches at 12 PM ET for players that purchased a standard edition. While we don't have a specific time for the downtime, it shouldn't be too long – we expect it to last somewhere under an hour, as we are trying to ensure everyone has proper online gameplay access and server stability as thousands of players try to log in at the same time.
College Football 26: Larger Than Ever
After the huge success of College Football 25, which was the second best-selling game of last year, there are high expectations for College Football 26. EA Sports has made improvements to gameplay and added new features and continues to try to separate the franchise away from Madden football.
The return was made possible thanks to the NCAA's 2021 NIL policy, which allows collegiate athletes to sign licensing deals, effectively paving the way for a new era of college football gaming.
What Platforms Is It On?
College Football 26 is on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Players with early access have already started to play; however, standard edition access starts at 12 PM ET on July 10 – just after the maintenance, hopefully.
College Football 26 Server Maintenance – The Basics
- Server maintenance starts: Thursday, July 10, 2025, 6AM ET
- Which features will be affected: All online modes and Team Builder will not be available for a period of time
- Why: To prepare the servers for the standard edition full release
- How long will maintenance last? EA has not communicated how long maintenance will last
- Standard edition launch: 12PM ET on that day
- Platforms: PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S
- Last year's success: College Football 25 was the second best-selling game of the year
- What players can expect: Improved gameplay, new features, and separation between gameplay and Madden
- NIL policy: The NCAA's 2021 NIL policy allows for athletes to have deals creating the path for EA's return to college football
- Players advise: If you're currently playing an online match, you better finish it before 6AM ET, or it will boot you out.
