A potentially standalone College Basketball game, long rumored in gaming circles, is back on track, and it’s currently in the works.
Gaming heavyweight 2K officially confirmed the news late on Sept. 4 and shared some interesting details about the upcoming project. Contrary to some popular beliefs, EA Sports won’t be taking care of it from the looks of it, after having rescinded its licensing offers. Moreover, we might have got the first indication towards a potential release date, and we will have to wait for the time being.
2K College Basketball could take till 2027 to develop
Earlier on Sept. 4, 2K shared the news that they’re currently working on a college basketball “experience”. The news comes on NBA 2K26‘s launch week, which is already available on advanced access across PC and consoles.
According to the tweet, the college basketball experience will feature over 100 programs across the country. 2K Sports’ approach towards college basketball will ensure that their partner schools, players, and athletes benefit from the program. The news comes after EA Sports reportedly rescinded offers to certain schools and gave up on plans for a college basketball game.
While an exact release date hasn’t been announced, 2027 is the expected timeline. That said, we might be able to find certain promos featuring college superstars as early as 2026 in NBA 2K26. This is just my prediction based on the wording of the official tweet, so it’s best to wait and watch.
It has been long rumored that 2K Sports will be adding the college basketball experience as a DLC, unlike EA Sports, who were aiming for a standalone game. That seems to have changed with the tone of this announcement. Moreover, a major reason behind EA Sports rescinding its offer has to do with certain schools prefering and accepting 2K Sports’ proposal. Whether 2K Sports goes for a full-scale launch of a separate video game remains to be seen.
It will be interesting to find what “surprises” await us in 2026. However, it looks clear that there will be a standalone game in all likelihood, and it will be from 2K. Till then, your best bet for enjoying basketball virtually is NBA 2K26.
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