College Basketball video games are coming back, but fans shouldn’t expect to see something in the too near future.
While the series’ return was already confirmed earlier this summer—after first being reported that talks were taking place back in December—EA Sports’ vice president of business development Sean O’Brien spoke to USA Today about where things sit, and the exact stage the game’s return is at.
O’Brien told the outlet that EA is “up for the challenge” of bringing college basketball back to video games for the first time since 2009.
“[We’re] in the process of trying to figure out how that could come together,” he said.
O’Brien then confirmed that EA’s plan is to have all Division I men’s and women’s college basketball programs in the game. It’s something he called a “daunting task”, but one that the company is up to after the successful return of College Football last year. O’Brien said that EA “captured lightning in a bottle” with College Football, and that they “would love to try to do the same for college basketball.”
This isn’t the first time an EA executive has publicly commented on a return for College Basketball. Back in July, EA CEO Andrew Wilson spoke on the game during the company’s earnings report.
At the time, he said that he couldn’t “say too much yet” about the game, but that EA wants to “[capture] the action on the field or the court, representing the energy, pageantry, the traditions, and celebrating the unique sights and sounds and stories of every school and rivalry.“
EA Sports College Basketball isn’t expected to launch until the 2028-29 season per Extra Points’ Matt Brown and Insider Gaming’s own sources.
It’s Not Just EA Sports After College Basketball
While EA Sports is at the front of the college gaming world at the moment, competitor 2K sports has also been teasing its involving with College Basketball.
Just after EA’s announcement, 2K teased it’s own, saying “the campus has been quiet for too long”. Not long after that reports surfaced that 2K originally wanted college modes and teams as paid DLC for the NBA 2K franchise before Sports Business Journal reported that they then shifted to pitching a stand alone game.
Insider Gaming has reached out multiple times over the weeks for clarification on 2K’s stance regarding college basketball, and how it would work. Each time, the company has declined to provide an official statement.
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Mike has been covering the gaming industry since 2012, and has reported on some of the largest events in the industry while also working as an investigative reporter. Outside of…
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