EA CEO Teases College Basketball Return: ‘We’d Have a Great Ability to Do College Basketball’

The CEO of Electronic Arts is teasing the return of EA College Basketball, just one month after a cryptic EA Sports tweet put the idea back into the heads of video game basketball fans.

During today’s Q1 earnings call, CEO Andrew Wilson was asked about the potential return of College Basketball, likely in response to the above tweet. Per reports back in June and the above clever tease, College Basketball is indeed slated to return from EA, though it will be a while yet before we see it – it’s not expected until 2028.

Here’s Wilson’s vague, yet promising, response in full:

We can’t say too much about it yet, but if I think about the opportunity, going back to where we are on College Football, college sport has one of the most vibrant fanbase in the world. And that trickles over to basketball certainly. We’re seeing momentum of fandom in college basketball also continue to grow. Fans, athletes, universities pour their passion into these sports. And it is that passion that makes it special, that makes the games different.

But with that comes high expectations, and a demand for deeply authentic experiences: capturing the action on the field or the court, representing the energy, pagentry, the traditions, and celebrating the unique sights and sounds and stories of every school and rivalry. We feel like we deliver that incredibly well with College Football…we’d love to do the same for basketball. All 350 programs, men’s and women’s teams, the iconic traditions and rivalries, and of course, March Madness.

So for us, college sports broadly is an exciting opportunity. We feel like we’ve done a really strong job, and remain committed to doing that in the context of college football. We believe that with what we’ve done with the teams, the technology, and our commitment around College Football, we’d have a great ability to do the same for college basketball, and as we look to try and activate against that opportunity, we’ll be able to share more.

Per reporting from The Athletic, EA Sports’ proposal for a College Basketball game, which was recommended for acceptance by the Collegiate Licensing Company, would include all Division I men’s and women’s teams (730 in total). The games, of which there would be six in total with releases beginning in 2028, would have similar features to College Football such as Dynasty Mode, Team Builder, Road to Glory, and Ultimate Team.

EA last produced a College Basketball game back in 2009, but the series was discontinued amid disputes over its use of college athletes’ likenesses, and declining sales compared to the College Football series. However, the success of College Football seems to have sparked a new interest in Basketball from EA…though it may be facing competition from 2K Sports, if this NBA 2K official Twitter/X post is any indication.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.