Snip, snap! Snip, snap! Snip, snap! You have no idea the physical toll that another college basketball video change has on a person. Out with EA Sports, in with 2K Sports.
Remember how exciting it was when EA dropped the tweet back in June? “Bring the Madness. Let’s run it back,” the video game company announced, just days before the release of College Football 26. The craze of the football game was at an all-time high, and now, for the first time in 16 years, a basketball version was coming, too.
It wasn’t going to be until 2028, but as long as something was in the works, fans didn’t care. They just wanted something to look forward to.
Then came the snag last week, EA and 2K in a standoff about the future of college basketball video games. The former wanted exclusive rights to an all-inclusive game featuring all 350-plus NCAA Division I schools with both men and women while the latter was comfortable including just the biggest names and brands in the sport as an extension of the NBA 2K series rather than a standalone.
If 2K wanted to move forward with their own thing, EA would rather exit college basketball gaming entirely. No exclusivity, no game.
Now, it appears 2K Sports will be earning the victory, as “enough schools have elected to go with 2K,” according to Matt Brown of Extra Points. Because of that, EA Sports has rescinded its college basketball video game licensing proposal.
“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for inclusion in NBA 2K, the offer to be included in a college basketball video game will unfortunately have to be rescinded,” Sean O’Brien, EA Sports’ VP of Commercial Partnerships & Licensing, said in an official statement. “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.”
2K once had a college basketball video game, last released with the 2K8 edition in 2007 featuring cover athlete Greg Oden. The entity’s current releases include NBA, PGA, NHL and WWE games, plus original series such as Bioshock and Borderlands, among others. Its NFL 2K series ended with NFL 2K5.
Now, it appears 2K will be running it back with CBB while EA tells the sport to take a hike.
Fortunately, considering Kentucky’s massive brand, Mark Pope will be holding up virtual trophies one way or another. For now, though, it appears that will be limited to the 2K franchise.
