Memo: EA Sports looks to bring back College Basketball video games, starting in 2028-2029

Good morning, and thanks for spending part of your day with Extra Points.

Since breaking many news stories about the development of EA Sports College Football, I get asked more reader questions about video games than I do about anything else I cover.

One of the most common video game questions I get: When are they going to bring back the college basketball game?!?

The two companies producing college basketball video games, EA Sports and 2K, both stopped before 2013, not just because of licensing concerns, but also because of lackluster sales. Even as development of EA Sports College Football was announced and confirmed, several sources in both the video game and licensing world told me there was little appetite for bringing back college basketball video games.

But that was then. EA Sports College Football 25 proved to be a smashing success, obliterating previous revenue projections. That was the sort of event I believed would be required before major developers would re-engage with the idea of producing an AAA-caliber college basketball video game.

According to a memo obtained by Extra Points, that’s exactly what happened.

In a memo sent to college conference offices from the College Licensing Company (CLC), dated June 26, 2025, CLC put out a request for proposal (RFP) to create a college basketball video game in November 2024. According to the memo, five companies expressed formal interest, and three filed formal bids.

The CLC memo recommends that the conferences accept the proposal made by EA Sports to bring back EA Sports College Basketball. This proposal states a plan for EA Sports to release the first game in 2028.

More information, after the jump:

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