EA Sports College Football 27 Faces Backlash After Fans Discover XP Microtransactions for Offline Game Modes

EA Sports College Football 27 has launched to "Mostly Negative" Steam reviews as fans revolt against pricey microtransactions in offline game modes.

The latest in EA's line of College Football video games immediately came under fire when it launched for early access on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X | S July 6. It all stems from the removal of features for the Road to Glory and Dynasty modes in favor of microtransactions that range from $9.99 to $149.99.

In College Football 25 and 26, offline versions of these modes allowed players to customize their experience by using settings to boost XP gain. In College Football 27, EA has gutted those settings, replacing them with the option to spend real-world money to increase things like a player's coach level.

As outlined by content creator Bordeaux, who has helped push the #CFBPlayDontPay movement, this year's College Football entry asks players to spend as much as $100 to reach the max coach level of 100. The fact that these options were added without much of a heads-up, with some content creators alleging that microtransactions were not mentioned in pre-launch builds, has only made matters worse.

"It makes me sick that you spent years building up community trust, saying that this was our game, this is all for us," Bordeaux said. "Nobody, not a single person out there was like, 'What would make our game better? What would make me want to play College Football more? Oh, I know. Being able to buy coach levels. Being able to buy upgrades for my player that is now way too slow to upgrade.'"

As controversy strikes, players have gone to the one place that allows them to make their voices heard: the Steam reviews section. Online conversation surrounding College Football 27 since launch has been consumed by this community campaign as it seeks to push EA to walk back microtransactions and bring back those in-game XP modifiers. Now, just 22% of the reviews for College Football 27 are positive, earning it that auburn Mostly Negative marker.

Not only is almost every creator speaking out, but so is your entire community

I’m extremely proud with how everybody has come together #CFBPlayDontPay https://t.co/pJvhHsuRuB

— Bordeaux (@bordeauxyoutube) July 9, 2026 Dusted off an old friend today. How far we’ve come yet how far we have fallen #CFBPlayDontPay https://t.co/WBEqBofk1u

— ???? (@LegacyOcho) July 9, 2026 "#CFBPlayDontPay," one review said. "Adding microtransactions to offline Road to Glory & offline Dynasty modes is insane. I will never spend another dime on any future CFB games if this is not reverted. Happy this one came to PC but this will be the last. Thanks EA for ruining what another game franchise! Greedy mfs."

Steam user ShaqOatmeal agreed with Bordeaux – in terms of raw gameplay, the 2027 College Football entry is exceptionally well-made. That didn't stop them from leaving a negative review.

"However, due to EA having biblical levels of greed and their response to all the backlash introducing microtransactions to offline game modes I will not be recommending this to anyone," they explained. "EA needs to be stripped of their exclusive rights to produce these games and let it fall into the hands of another publisher that won’t **** its casual player base over. They’ve been doing this microtransaction BS for YEARS on Madden and now they’re starting with CFB. It’s unacceptable. If you haven’t already bought the game don’t buy it now."

EA did eventually respond to the backlash, saying an upcoming patch would include new XP settings in Road to Glory and Dynasty. For the latter, players can expect new options that allow for up to 1.5x XP, while experience earned in the latter will be tied to the difficulty levels. What might seem to a walking back has done little to quell concerns.

imagine being 8 years old and loading up College Football 27 to play out a career in Road to Glory

you put in on Freshman difficulty, because you are EIGHT, and you are punished with less XP gains than people who play on Heisman

Now you hate College Football games for the rest… https://t.co/jNTsYpYyWO https://t.co/U6iD9M2qKB

— Bordeaux (@bordeauxyoutube) July 9, 2026 Can’t wait to spent $80 to buy a non-physical copy of a game I don’t actually own so I can boot it up and be heavily incentivized to pay more money if I want to experience key features like leveling up my player.

The future of gaming looks bright! #cfbplaydontpay https://t.co/6qndFp9c15

— Clokus (@ItsClokus) July 9, 2026 Those new XP options seem to be slower than what was previously available, and some choice wording makes it clear that players will be discouraged from trying out easier difficulties. Bordeaux and the countless fans supporting #CFBPlayDontPay said they aren't backing down, with many hoping EA opts to remove microtransactions entirely.

"This is the phrasing that just sets me off," the content creator said regarding EA's confirmation that disabling player Wear & Tear would affect XP gain. "This is an offline – an offline Road to Glory mode – why the f**k are we worried about offsetting the gameplay advantage? Read between the lines. We all know what the actual reason is. We know where this is headed in the future if things don't change, if things are not reverted."

As negative reviews pour in and accusations of pay-to-win microtransactions in single-player modes mount, it's unclear if EA has any plan to walk back its strategy in a way that will make players happy. For now, many are asking disgruntled fans to be thoughtful about where they direct their calls for change.

"Devs did good but removing a feature and making people pay to replicate it in an OFFLINE mode is the most awful, EA thing to do to this game," another Steam review said. "#CFBPlayNotPay"

The thing that @EASPORTSCollege doesn't understand about Dynasty and Road to Glory #CFBPlayDontPay https://t.co/qIjEPVr4E7

— Bengal (@BengalYouTube) July 9, 2026 I am a CUT player but i stand with my dynasty and road to glory brothers! I am not buying another pack until microtransactions are removed or the XP sliders are added back into Dynasty/RTG #CFBPLAYDONTPAY

— Dyl (@Dyl_TV) July 7, 2026 "Before I continue to rip into EA, I'm ripping into the higher-ups, here," Bordeaux said in his initial video. "I'm not ripping into the devs. It is not the devs' fault. It's not their decisions that are leading to these microtransactions. It's someone higher up that is saying, 'We need to make more money. Let's get more revenue out of this. Maybe Ultimate Team in CUT (College Ultimate Team) isn't cutting it because no one cares about College Ultimate Team.'

"But I'm not blaming the devs. The devs did an amazing job, and that is the part that sucks to me the most. This is the best game they have put out. It's not even close. There is the least amount of bugs – there's still a couple huge ones, and I am sure they'll get to it – but the devs cooked. The devs did a good job, and it is all going to be overshadowed because of this microtransaction slop that they've put in."

IGN gave EA Sports College Football 27 a 7/10 review. We said, "This season ain’t gonna knock anybody’s socks off, and both Dynasty and Road to Glory have leaned hard into spreadsheet management this year, but smart on-field additions to an already good game make College Football 27 worth suiting up for once again."

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).