Following the incredibly successful return of its college football video game franchise, EA Sports is now turning its attention towards college basketball. In a post on social media, the sports video game publisher/developer teased the return of a college basketball video game series.
"Bring the Madness. Let's run it back," EA Sports teased on social media this week with the hashtag "#CBB." Although no official press release was shared, the tweet pretty much serves as confirmation that it's only a matter of time until EA formally announces a college basketball game.
The last college basketball game to be released was NCAA Basketball 10 back in November 2009. Developed by EA Canada, the game was released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and featured former University of Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin on the cover.
Much like its college football counterpart, the NCAA Basketball series ran into issues for using likenesses of college athletes which at the time went against the rules of the NCAA. The college sports landscape has evolved quite a bit since then with student athletes now able to profit from the use of their name, image, and likeness.
With new rules now allowing college athletes to be paid, we saw the return of EA's college football video game series, under the new name EA Sports College Football. Released in July 2024, EA Sports College Football 25 generated approximately $500 million in revenue in its first week alone. By November 2024, it had become the best-selling sports video game of all time in the United States. It finished as the second highest-selling game overall in the U.S. for 2024, trailing only Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
Given the enthusiast fan response and sales success of EA Sports College Football, many figured it was only a matter of time before EA worked out a deal for the return of its college basketball series.
It seems the speculation was correct and that the return is imminent. What remains unclear is just how far along development is on the speculated game. Will EA Sports College Basketball (assuming that's the name) be ready for the 2025-2026 men's college basketball season, which begins in November?
Or is this simply announcing the franchise's return, perhaps for the following 2026-2027 season? If that's the case, then EA Sports College Basketball could make its debut in 2026.