Live Steam player count comparison, updated every 10 minutes. Both are Sports games.
NBA 2K26 is currently the more played game: 20,621 concurrent players on Steam right now vs 1,413 for Need for Speed™ Heat — about 15× more players. Need for Speed™ Heat counters with better Steam reviews: 84% positive vs 64%. Across all tracked metrics, NBA 2K26 leads 5 of 8.
Coilr tracks charts like this for every game — and playtime history for your own library.
Tracked by Coilr since May 2026 · Steam polled every 10 minutes · methodology
| Metric | NBA 2K26 | Need for Speed™ Heat |
|---|---|---|
| Players right now | 20,621 | 1,413 |
| 24-hour peak | 36,224 | 2,274 |
| 7-day average | 23,412 | 1,635 |
| 30-day average | 25,765 | 1,635 |
| 30-day trend | −3% | — |
| Peak (tracked) | 47,378 | 2,274 |
| Steam reviews | 64% positive | 84% positive |
| Recent reviews (3 mo) | 68% positive | 84% positive |
| Total reviews | 30,243 | 150,333 |
| Owners (SteamSpy est.) | — | ~2,000,000 |
| Release date | Sep 3, 2025 | Jun 4, 2020 |
| Price | $9.79 | $69.99 |
Full stats: NBA 2K26 · Need for Speed™ Heat · add more games to this comparison →
| Month | NBA 2K26 | Need for Speed™ Heat | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg | Peak | Avg | Peak | |
| May 2026 | 28,957 | 47,378 | — | — |
| Jun 2026 | 26,098 | 45,480 | — | — |
| Jul 2026 (so far) | 25,640 | 46,741 | 1,637 | 2,274 |
Monthly average and peak concurrent players on Steam, from Coilr's own tracking (10-minute polls, hourly beyond 30 days).
NBA 2K26 currently has more players: 20,621 concurrent players on Steam vs 1,413 for Need for Speed™ Heat — about 15× more players.
Over the last 30 days NBA 2K26 averaged 25,765 concurrent players and Need for Speed™ Heat averaged 1,635. By that measure NBA 2K26 is currently the bigger game.
By Steam review score, Need for Speed™ Heat rates higher: 84% positive across 150,333 reviews vs 64% across 30,243 for NBA 2K26. NBA 2K26 has the larger player base right now (20,621 vs 1,413 concurrent). Player counts, ratings, price and trend are compared side by side above.
NBA 2K26 averaged 25,765 concurrent players over the last 30 days, down 3% vs the previous 30 days. Its highest tracked player count is 47,378.