NBA 2K26 is back inside Steam's top 40 most-played games during a busy weekend for the basketball sim, with Season 7 now live and the standard edition sitting at one of its steepest PC discounts yet.
In a 17:50 UTC reading of Steam's public most-played chart on May 16, NBA 2K26 ranked No. 38 with 34,538 players in-game. That was eight places higher than the weekly comparison, and well above Friday's comparable player count of 19,327. Its weekly peak in the same chart data stood at 45,966 players.
The Steam store is also giving players a cheaper way in late in the NBA season. NBA 2K26's Steam page lists the standard edition at 86% off, dropping it from $69.99 to $9.79 until May 25. The Superstar Edition is also discounted, down 75% to $24.99.
Season 7 gives NBA 2K26 a fresh weekend hook
The Steam move is happening alongside NBA 2K26 Season 7, which launched Friday, May 15 at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET / 4 PM BST. In 2K's Steam post for patch 7.0, the update is described as Season 7 preparation and also adds the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo as playable WNBA Quick Play teams.
The patch notes say WNBA uniforms and court floors have been updated for the 2026 season. They also list gameplay tuning, including refined drive transitions from standing stepback moves, plus fixes across MyCAREER, MyTEAM, MyNBA and The City.
Season 7 itself is framed around Angel Reese, the WNBA and the NBA postseason, with new MyCAREER rewards, MyTEAM cards and in-game events. The result is a cleaner Steam story than a bare sale bump: NBA 2K26 has a cheaper entry point and fresh live-service content in the same launch window.
The jump stands out on a crowded Steam chart
NBA 2K26 is not a new release anymore. It launched on Steam in September 2025, and sports games usually need either a major discount, a live-service reset or a real-world calendar beat to cut through months after launch. This weekend gives it all three: a deep sale, a new season and NBA playoff timing.
A top-40 rank does not put NBA 2K26 near the free-to-play giants at the top of the chart, but it is a strong position for a full-price annual sports game entering the back half of its cycle.
The next test is whether the player count holds after the first Season 7 weekend. NBA 2K26 has a cheaper entry point, fresh seasonal rewards and a patch that updates WNBA content for the 2026 season.