2K Games

How many people play NBA 2K? — 2024 franchise statistics

The cash cow franchise continues to have slam-dunk earnings.

Fact-checked
First Released
November 10, 1999
Genre
Sports
Developer
Visual Concepts
Publisher
2K

NBA 2K is one of the most popular gaming franchises in the world, alongside FIFA, Madden, PES, and a few more. The games are developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Games. Since the games are so massively popular, there have been some notable accolades and achievements, as well as some impressive accumulated numbers. A pressing question many ask is, how many people play NBA 2K? As we dive into NBA 2K statistics and facts, we’ll shed light on the series’ performance trajectory and address this query, offering a comprehensive look into its enduring success. If you want some more information on more topics, take a look at some of these video game industry statistics and facts!

NBA 2K key stats

To take a look at how the franchise has performed over the years, we first have to look at its history of sales. The games have always been popular, so their sales have always been impressive, growing exponentially over the years.

In 2022, NBA 2K22 had over 1.9 million daily players.

(Source: MP1ST)

  • The game had a peak Steam player count of 46,628, meaning that most of the players were playing on consoles.
  • The average Steam player count is around 11,000 players.

How many people play NBA 2K? There are some discrepancies when you want to monitor the data for the current player count in NBA 2K games. Because of this, we can only track the total number of people that play the games on Steam. Nonetheless, the one piece of information where TakeTwo announced that NBA 2K22 had over 1.9 million daily players perfectly shows the difference between PC and console gaming for NBA 2K games.

The NBA 2K franchise has sold over 125 million copies since the first game.

(Source: VG Chartz, Statista)

  • The highest-selling game was NBA 2K20, with 14 million copies sold.
  • The lowest-selling recorded game was NBA 2K9, with 2 million copies sold.

The NBA series has accumulated an absolutely massive amount of sales over the years, and that is largely due to the fact that the games appeal to a broad range of gamers who appreciate the NBA before all else, and they love the experience each NBA 2K game provides.

The NBA 2K franchise accounted for 65% of the developer’s revenue.

(Source: Sports Business Journal)

  • NBA 2K22 represented TakeTwo quite well with over 10 million copies sold in the fiscal year.
  • To date, the NBA 2K franchise accounted for 65% of the total revenue of TakeTwo.
  • NBA 2K Mobile’s sales increased by 25% in the same fiscal year.

TakeTwo definitely had its share of success with the NBA 2K franchise, as is readily apparent with the success in revenue the company has experienced since the release of the first NBA 2K game. 65% is a fantastic percentage to aim for in any company, and considering that TakeTwo’s other main publishing label is Rockstar Games, the percentage is even more impressive.

TakeTwo’s net revenue increased by 11% in the 2022 fiscal year.

(Source: Sports Business Journal)

  • In the 2022 fiscal year, TakeTwo’s profits increased by 11%.
  • This brought the total net revenue of TakeTwo to $930 million.
  • The net revenue of the previous fiscal year was $839 million.

NBA 2K22 was a very popular title for TakeTwo Interactive as is evident when you look at their reports for the 2022 fiscal year, where aside from revealing the 65% net revenue for the NBA 2K series, they also stated that their general revenue increased by 11% as well. What is very impressive about this statistic is that this increase in revenue brought TakeTwo Interactive one step closer to becoming a billion-dollar company.

NBA 2K user stats

Now that we have looked at the sales stats for the franchise at its most relevant points, we can now take a look at some of the stats in regard to the dedicated fans who play the games and enjoy them daily. The games are very popular when

Players have spent 675,326 hours playing NBA 2K22.

(Source: PS Timetracker)

  • These hours were accumulated across 571,557 sessions.
  • The length of an average session was 1:11 hours.

PS Timetracker is a fantastic source of information when it comes to tracking the time PSN users spend in a game, and when it comes to NBA 2K22, we can see that quite a few players invested a ton of time into the game, as is evident through the total number of sessions.

Since launch, players have spent 39,171 hours playing NBA 2K23.

(Source: PS Timetracker)

  • These hours were accumulated over 17,267 sessions.
  • The length of an average session was 2 hours and 17 minutes.

NBA 2K23 is the newest title in the NBA 2K franchise, but we believe that it is also slipping into the field of redundancy that other games in similar franchises are slipping into. The reception of the game is not that good, with only a 6/10 rating from IGN, but other platforms have given the game some better reviews. Nonetheless, NBA 2K23 has taken in one-sixth of the total playtime the previous game took one year to accumulate within one month, so that is looking good for the general look of the game.

In September 2022, the average player count for NBA 2K23 was 15,075.

(Source: Steam Charts)

  • This number is approximately 4,000 players more than NBA 2K22.
  • The peak player count for NBA 2K23 was 25,467.

This stat section is the same as the first daily players section we have mentioned so far, where we cannot reliably show the total number of players that play the game on both PC and console, so the only stats we can show are in regarding the daily number of Steam players. We can see here that the total number of daily players for NBA 2K23 is still fairly impressive, and we’re expecting the number to keep increasing the longer the game is out.

NBA 2K franchise gameplay stats

Sales stats and user stats are not the only things that make up a great game, so now we are going to take a look at some of the gameplay stats that have made the NBA 2K franchise such a hit in the gaming community.

There are 97 playable teams in NBA 2K23.

(Source: 2K Ratings, Guidefall)

  • NBA 2K23 has 30 playable teams from the current NBA season.
  • There is also the choice of 67 Classic teams from various periods along with their best players.
  • The time periods for the Classic teams range from 1964-65 to 2018-19.

One of the most appealing aspects of a great game, be it a fighting game like Tekken or a basketball like NBA 2K is the variety of the characters and the teams you can play. This is where NBA 2K23 shines as you can choose between 97 teams when you’re playing against other players. This number includes the teams from the current NBA lineup as well as some of the most iconic and memorable teams from various points in the league’s history, ranging from 1964 to 2019.

The MyCareer section of NBA 2K23 has 12 college teams to choose from.

(Source: SportsKeeda)

When you step into MyCareer mode in NBA 2K23, you are going to be presented with a broad variety of choices, whether it is the look of your character or your preferred college team. Having such a wide variety of teams to choose from is perfect for players that want to feel immersed in the game and who want to feel like they are really competing against other college students.

NBA 2K23 has 50 achievements.

(Source: Xbox Achivements)

  • The total game score you can get for these achievements on Xbox is 1000.
  • There are three secret achievements.

The achievements in NBA 2K23 are great because you don’t have to go through various hoops to try to complete all of them, as they are all tied to just playing games in the game modes the game has. With an achievement system like this, you can just sit back, and play your best, and they will just roll in!

The NBA 2K franchise has over 400 songs in its soundtracks.

(Source: Real Sport 101, Gosu Noob, Genius)

  • Since its release, NBA 2K22 has accumulated 90 songs in its soundtrack list.
  • NBA 2K23 has 36 songs in its soundtrack list so far.
  • In contrast, NBA 2K9 has only 24 licensed songs.

One of the most memorable and appealing aspects of playing NBA 2K is the soundtrack that comes with each game because they are always up-to-date with the best songs you can jam out to while you play the game. 400 songs in a franchise are no joke, and you can be sure that whichever NBA 2K you choose to play, the soundtrack is going to be epic!

NBA 2K franchise esports stats

Since the NBA 2K games are very competitive, you can be sure that there is also a strong esports scene within the franchise that has been going on for a few years now. The NBA 2K League was founded together by TakeTwo Interactive and the NBA itself. In the NBA 2K League, the best NBA 2K players from around the world gather to test their skills in a tournament featuring multiple game modes, which is very fun and exciting to watch. We’re going to be taking a look at some of the stats regarding the League as well as the progress it has made over the years.

The NBA 2K League had a $2,500,000 prize pool.

(Source: NBA 2K League)

  • The winning team, Wizards District Gaming, took first place and won $1,412,100.
  • They were also paid $20,000 in cryptocurrencies.

As we can see here, the prize pool that comes with competing in the NBA 2K League is fairly sizeable considering that the game is not as popular as other games such as Fortnite. Nevertheless, we are sure that the NBA 2K League is on another level when it comes to its organization, and we can also expect the prize pools to increase as time goes on.

The NBA 2K League had over 624 million views across their different social media platforms.

(Source: NBA 2K League)

  • The NBA 2K League accumulated over 2,000,000 followers across its social media platforms since the League was founded.
  • Across their social media platforms, the NBA 2K League has generated over 624 million views.
  • The NBA 2K League 2022 season generated over 31,000 new followers on social media.
  • The NBA 2K League has 16 official partners.

A strong esports scene is almost always defined by the marketing and social media outlets that spread the word about the event. In the case of the NBA 2K League, we can see here that it attracted over half a billion views since its conception, which is a formidable number even among the biggest influencers.

The highest number of points an NBA 2K League player has scored in the 2021 season playoffs is 232.

(Source: NBA 2K League)

  • CB13 scored the highest number of points in the playoffs for the 2021 season, with 232.
  • The highest number of rebounds in the same season belonged to Hezi with 93.
  • Choc had the most assists for that season at 104.
  • The highest field goal percentage was 86.7%, belonging to Dayfri from Wizards District Gaming.

The final bit of statistics we have for you are concerned with the performance of the players in the NBA 2K League, and through the stats, we can see that there have been some fairly impressive numbers thrown up by the League competitors. This information is pivotal in understanding the quality of the players that compete in the NBA 2K League, as well as the caliber of the general players that compete here.

To sum up

That would be all we have to say about these NBA 2K franchise statistics and facts! As you can see, NBA 2K has been around for a long time and has established itself as a titan in the gaming industry, amassing millions of fans around the world and leaving a massive imprint in pop culture as a result. The series has always been popular for many people, largely due to the sheer quality of the gameplay and the attention to detail for all of the modes you can play through, from general skirmishes to MyCareer and much more. We are massive fans of the NBA 2K franchise and we are happy to be bringing you all of this information so you can look at the series in an even better light. We sincerely hope that you have enjoyed this content and that you have learned something new!

Sources

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