NBA 2K26 publisher teases its first new college basketball video game since 2007

Ahead of the launch of NBA 2K26 today, publisher 2K confirmed that it is securing the partnerships necessary to make a new college basketball video game. The last one it released was College Hoops 2K8 in 2007.

2K is teasing collaborations for next year ahead of “big plans” in 2027. This announcement also raises questions about the college basketball game teased by EA Sports in June.

What are 2K’s plans for college basketball?

A dedicated college basketball game seems to be on the way

On Thursday evening, just before NBA 2K26’s wide release, 2K posted on X to confirm it is “working on a college basketball experience that will feature more than 100 programs from across the country.” This came after some reporting from Extra Points suggested that 2K was pursuing college licenses.

As for when we can expect to see the results of these efforts, this message also hinted at that. 2K says that it has “big plans for 2027 and beyond” with college basketball, and that there will be “a few surprises coming in early 2026.”

This tease suggests that there will be an NBA 2K26 update featuring colleges ahead of a full college basketball game in 2027. Obviously, college basketball games will be able to build on the strong foundation that previous basketball games have established.

College basketball is still very popular, but that version of the sport hasn’t gotten dedicated video games of its own in some time. Both EA and 2K published college basketball games throughout the 2000s, but stopped by 2010.

The last dedicated college basketball game released by 2K came out in November 2007, had Greg Oden on the cover, and was titled College Hoops 2K8. College sports games fell out of favor by the mid-2010s, but appear to be having a resurgence following the success of EA College Football’s revival.

EA itself even teased a new college basketball game in June. That said, Extra Points’ reporting revealed that schools were hesitant to get on board with EA’s plans for a dedicated college football game.

Schools reportedly preferred 2K’s proposal to be included in NBA 2K and eventually dedicated titles of their own over EA’s brand-new game pitch, so EA rescinded its offer to colleges.

It remains to be seen if EA will try to salvage its take on a college basketball video game or if 2K will have no competition come 2027.