EA Sports teases return for College Basketball video game aiming for 2028 release

It’s been almost 20 years, but March Madness is set to make its long-awaited return to the gaming world.

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Following the great success of College Football 25’s revival, on June 30th, EA teased the comeback for its beloved college basketball game series in a social media post:

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"Bring the Madness. Let’s run it back."

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After receiving a memo from The Collegiate licensing company (CLC), Matt Brown of Extra Points reported about the college basketball's impending return to consoles. Based on the documents received, The CLC sent out a request for proposal to develop a college basketball game back in 2024 after seeing mass success with College Football 25. With that in mind, it was recommended to accept EA Sports’ proposal. The gaming conglomerate also confirmed it would involve Division I men’s and women’s teams who opted in, which would amount to 730 teams, not to mention NIL money for players on each team in a standalone simulation game. July 18th is the deadline for schools to approve being in the game.

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The game is set to make its return for 2028-2029 season, with EA looking to adopt similar features that were in the college football game such as Dynasty Mode, Team Builder, Road to Glory and Ultimate Team.

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The proposal is for a six-year deal which gives enough time to release a number of games in between. The reason for its long delay and release is due to acquiring assets, jerseys, trophies, designing stadiums, and more.

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2009 was the last time we’ve ever received a college basketball game, but with this announcement it’s exciting to hear that it will soon find its way back in our homes and disrupt the gaming industry once again for sports fans.

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