Electronic Arts (EA): EA uses a machine learning tool called HeadStart that converts real photographs of athletes into playable in-game faces. It was used to create over 11,000 unique player likenesses for EA Sports College Football 25 (2024) — a scale that EA says would not have been possible without AI. | AI Trace
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EA uses a machine learning tool called HeadStart that converts real photographs of athletes into playable in-game faces. It was used to create over 11,000 unique player likenesses for EA Sports College Football 25 (2024) — a scale that EA says would not have been possible without AI.
Details
HeadStart analyzes submitted player photos to identify optimal head geometry, selecting from 240 pre-defined head shape templates. Artists then refine the results manually. For College Football 25, EA combined HeadStart with a custom stadium-building toolkit to deliver 11,000 player faces and 150 stadiums — assets CEO Andrew Wilson said were impossible to produce on this scale without machine learning. HeadStart has been part of EA's pipeline across multiple sports titles.
Products affected
EA Sports College Football 25EA sports titles broadly
