EA Sports Shelves College Basketball Comeback After Schools Take 2K Deals
EA Sports appears to have pulled back from plans to return to college basketball after rescinding licensing offers to several schools, according to a memo obtained by Extra Points and verified by The Athletic. The memo, from EA Sports vice president Sean O’Brien, points to competing offers from 2K Sports as the reason the company withdrew its proposal.
What happened
EA Sports had been teasing a return to college basketball and was reportedly lining up licensing agreements with Division I schools. However, a company memo sent by Sean O’Brien rescinded those offers, citing schools that accepted 2K Sports’ proposal as the reason for the reversal.
The memo and quotes
The memo includes this line: “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for inclusion in NBA 2K, the offer to be included in a college basketball video game will unfortunately have to be rescinded,” attributed to Sean O’Brien.
It also states, “Everyone at EA Sports is disappointed that we all couldn’t find an acceptable path forward,” and notes the company had wanted to create a stand-alone college basketball title that included all men’s and women’s Division I institutions and student athletes, conferences, as well as the NCAA.
Timeline and context
According to reporting, EA had been targeting a 2028 launch for its planned college basketball sim. Meanwhile, 2K Sports is also reportedly pursuing a college basketball project; that earlier reporting appears in the Sports Business Journal.
Importantly, EA last published a college basketball game in 2009 (NCAA Basketball 10). By contrast, EA successfully relaunched its college football series with EA Sports College Football 25 last year, and that game became a major commercial success according to GamesIndustry.biz.
Also, 2K’s NBA series remains dominant in the basketball sim space; for example, NBA 2K25 ranked among the top-selling games in recent charts.
What this means next
For now, the memo’s language indicates EA will not move forward with a college basketball game as planned. Polygon has reportedly reached out to EA Sports for comment and to ask about next steps, and outlets say they will update when the company responds.
In short: EA teased a return, then pulled licensing offers after schools appeared to accept 2K’s proposals, and the publisher’s internal message says the college basketball project is effectively on hold.
