2K challenges EA in college basketball: new sports simulator could be released by 2027
Sports video games are preparing for a new round of competition. According to a recent report by Sports Business Journal, 2K Sports is not going to give in and plans to develop its own standalone college basketball game. This means that fans can get not one, but two big games dedicated to college sports at once!
Here's What We Know
Jason Wilson reports that 2K Sports is "planning a standalone game" that will include "more than 100 men's and women's teams that will receive 'fair market value' for their name, image and likeness (NIL) rights".
This new report comes after a previous proposal by 2K and Take-Two Interactive for college basketball as DLC for NBA 2K games was revealed. That initial proposal to the College Licensing Company (CLC) included a gradual increase in the number of teams in the mode year over year, and also mentioned the creation of a full-fledged college game depending on the sales of this DLC.
The CLC eventually recommended an exclusive licensing offer to EA conferences and schools to create the game, after which EA announced its return to college basketball on 30 June.
However, according to Matt Brown of Extra Points, 2K has been in direct contact with schools to delay this recommendation while they work on another proposal for their own game. It can be assumed that Wilson's report of "more than 100 male and female teams" for the game is part of this new proposal.
According to sources Wilson has spoken to, 2K Sports believes it can create the game faster than EA because of the engine it already has in place. This will allow the game to be released by 2027, depending on the scale of the project. However, it should be emphasised that this does not mean that if they get the licence, the game will definitely be released by 2027. Rather, it indicates that they have the technical capability to do so if they want to.
EA's recommended proposal is to release games starting in 2028.
Source: Sports Business Journal