NBA 2K26 is free to play on Switch and Switch 2 for the next week

Nintendo has launched a new Game Trial, making NBA 2K26 free for the next week.

Nintendo Switch Online subscribers occasionally get access to Game Trials, which let them download Switch and Switch 2 games and play them for a set time.

The latest Game Trial is for 2K Sports‘ NBA 2K26, and applies to both the Switch and Switch 2 versions of the game.

According to Nintendo, the trial starts today at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST, and will last until Thursday, August 13 at 11.59pm PT (August 14 at 2.59am ET / 7.59am BST).

During this period, players can download the full game and play it with no restrictions, as if they had purchased the game and were playing it as normal.

Rather than a demo offering a specific section of the game, Nintendo’s Game Trials contain the entire game with all features (including online multiplayer) with the only restriction being the fact that it no longer becomes playable when the trial period ends.

When the Game Trial period ends the game will no longer boot – players can then choose to either delete it from their Switch or Switch 2 console, or purchase it from the Nintendo eShop and continue playing.

Players who decide to buy the game after the Game Trial ends will be able to carry their save file over, meaning they don’t lose the progress they made throughout the week.

NBA 2K26 is the 27th game in the long-running basketball series developed by Visual Concepts. The series was initially published by Sega from 1999 to 2004, at which point Take-Two Interactive, which had acquired Visual Concepts in January 2005, launched its new 2K subsidiary and continued the series there.

In recent years the series has been praised for delivering compelling, authentic basketball gameplay and presentation, but has been also criticised for 2K’s heavy emphasis on pushing microtransactions and frequent use of intrusive sponsorships in certain modes.