College basketball is making its way back into the virtual world. On Thursday, 2K Sports announced that it will soon include college basketball programs in its NBA video game franchise on the heels of EA Sports reportedly rescinding its licensing offer to create a standalone game.
In its announcement, 2K revealed that its “college basketball experience” will feature more than 100 programs that will show up in the game over the next two years with “a few surprises” slated for early 2026 and “big plans for 2027 and beyond.”
“Yes, it’s true,” 2K wrote in a statement. “We’re working on a college basketball experience that will feature more than 100 programs from across the country, from powerhouses to Cinderella stories. Competition fuels quality at all levels, which is why our approach with college basketball ensures our partner schools, college athletes and our players all benefit. More good news – you won’t have to wait long to start seeing your favorite colleges show up in the game. We’ve got big plans for 2027 and beyond, and even a few surprises coming early in 2026.”
After the return of EA Sports’ college football franchise, there has long been speculation that hoops would also make a comeback. But the game’s actual development has been murky. Back in June, EA Sports teased the return of its college hoops game for the first time since 2009, and Extra Points reported that the company was targeting a release date in 2028.
However, a Tuesday report from Extra Points revealed that EA Sports sent out a memo to licensing directors for individual schools and conferences saying that it was rescinding its licensing offer because some schools had already accepted an offer from 2K to be involved with its NBA franchise.
“Given there are some schools choosing to accept the 2K Sports proposal for inclusion in NBA 2K, the offer to be included in a college basketball video game will unfortunately have to be rescinded,” the memo says.
“Everyone at EA SPORTS is disappointed that we all couldn’t find an acceptable path forward, but we appreciate your support in trying to bring a stand-alone college basketball game with all men’s and women’s Division 1 institutions and student athletes, conferences as well as the NCAA, in a way that fans have told us they want. We really appreciate your support.”
Unlike EA Sports’ proposal for a standalone college hoops game, the 2K proposal involved a college gameplay format, according to Extra Points:
Unlike EA Sports, the 2K bid did not call for the inclusion of every single D-I men’s and women’s basketball program. Instead, a different CLC memo detailed the 2K proposal as a non-exclusive license to produce a “5v5 tournament gameplay format integrated into NBA 2K MyTeam Mode via downloadable content (DLC).” 2K would evaluate the viability of a standalone college basketball title, depending on the financial performance of college basketball DLC.
The last edition of NCAA Basketball was released by EA Sports in November of 2009, and then-Oklahoma star Blake Griffin was on the cover. A year earlier was the last time 2K Sports produced its college basketball game. Poor sales caused both companies to cease creating those games.
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