Women’s NBA players are set to take the court alongside their male NBA counterparts in NBA 2K26’s MyTeam mode for the first time. WNBA players will appear in all MyTeam game modes, including the new Breakout: Gauntlet mode where players complete a series of matches where the difficulty gets harder and harder, but they can only use each card in the collection once.
WNBA players have been part of the dominant 2K franchise since the introduction of 12 WNBA teams in NBA 2K20. But it took another two years until NBA 2K22 for Candace Parker to become the first female cover star.
In-game, the Attributes and Badges for both NBA and WNBA players’ cards will “function identically”, which 2K hopes will give a “balanced, consistent gameplay experience no matter who is on the court”.
This news comes after EA’s flagship sports game, EA Sports FC 26, announced four new female Icons joining its roster of legendary players in Ultimate Team. Male and female players have shared the pitch in FC Ultimate Team for the last couple of years in a move that’s been largely successful, if not without its difficulties.
Comparing the two sports franchises, it will be interesting to see how WNBA stars are balanced within the meta of 2K26 MyTeam, where EA Sports FC has struggled to keep all but very top-tier women’s players competitive – with some notable exceptions.
As well as new player cards there will also be a dedicated WNBA Domination tier, and you will be able to customize your team with every WNBA uniform and the entire league’s court floors.
NBA 2K26 will launch on September 5th, with Early Access starting on August 29th, for PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo consoles and PC.