2K Sports reportedly owns the rights to make video games featuring some of the biggest college basketball schools in the United States.
According to Polygon, 2K Sports currently has the licensing rights for at least 11 schools, and the belief is that these schools could be appearing in the upcoming "NBA 2K16."
The list of 11 schools includes Wisconsin, Villanova, UCLA, Texas, Michigan, Louisville, Kansas, Georgetown, Connecticut, Arizona State, and Arizona. The Collegiate Licensing Company is believed to be the party that manages the licensing rights for the schools included in the list, although there are some universities that work with other agencies or ones that simply handle their licensing rights on their own.
Interestingly, the database of the Collegiate Licensing Company, which displays information regarding the licensing rights of the schools they are affiliated with, now shows that no licensing has been provided for the schools. This is dissimilar to the information found earlier, when the records indicated that video game licensing rights had indeed been given to a different party, according to Bruins Nation.
Causing more people to believe that something related to college sports is indeed in the works for "NBA 2K16" was news that at least two of the achievements in the game were related to that specific part of a basketball player's career. Achievements such as signing with a school and declaring for the NBA Draft early are reportedly included in "NBA 2K16," and they are rumored to be part of the game's MyCareer mode.
News of "NBA 2K16" potentially including college basketball elements comes in the wake of a federal judge approving a $60 million settlement for lawsuits filed against EA Sports, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Collegiate Licensing Company for what the plaintiffs claim as unauthorized usage of their images and likenesses in several video games that have been published.
2K Sports has not offered any official comment on the story at this point.
