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Counter-Strike 2 Tops Steam Ranking, Echoes of Aincrad Debuts at 7th

Echoes of Aincrad's debut at seventh place on the Steam chart, ahead of its full release, signals strong pre-launch interest in the latest SAO console game, which Bandai Namco is backing with a streamer recruitment campaign and dedicated PlayStation talk show segments.

Key Facts

  • Counter-Strike 2 ranked first on the Steam sales chart for Japan as of July 6, 2026.
  • Echoes of Aincrad debuted at seventh place on the same chart ahead of its Steam release on July 10, 2026.
  • Echoes of Aincrad launches on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on July 9 and on Steam on July 10, with a standard edition price of 8,910 yen.
  • Bandai Namco's Clearance Group Recruitment Campaign for Echoes of Aincrad runs until July 17, offering a NerveGear streaming kit and name inscription on the Monument of Life page.
  • Sony Interactive Entertainment aired a two-part talk show on July 7 and 8 featuring SAO game general producer Takasuke Futami and production manager Yasuhiro Yawata.

Reporting from 6 sources: GAME Watch (Impress), 4Gamer.net, Denfaminicogamer, ASCII.jp, and 2 more.

Counter-Strike 2 Tops Steam Ranking, Echoes of Aincrad Debuts at 7th

Valve's Counter-Strike 2 reclaimed the top spot on the Steam sales ranking for Japan as of July 6, 2026, according to ASCII.jp's weekly chart. The free-to-play shooter took first place ahead of EA's Apex Legends in second and Cygames' Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond in third. Bandai Namco Entertainment's new Sword Art Online action RPG Echoes of Aincrad debuted at seventh place ahead of its Steam release on July 10. The game launches on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on July 9, with a standard edition priced at 8,910 yen. To promote the title, Bandai Namco is running a Clearance Group Recruitment Campaign through July 17, inviting streamers to play on Very Hard difficulty with Death Game Mode enabled. Participants receive a NerveGear streaming kit and have their names inscribed on a Monument of Life page. Separately, Sony Interactive Entertainment aired a two-part talk show on July 7 and 8 featuring SAO game general producer Takasuke Futami and Echoes of Aincrad production manager Yasuhiro Yawata, who demonstrated character creation and early story content.

ASCII.jp published its 174th weekly Steam sales ranking for Japan on July 6, 2026, based on data as of 13:00 that day. Counter-Strike 2 returned to first place after a period away from the top, while Apex Legends held second and Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond took third. Among new releases, Bandai Namco's Echoes of Aincrad entered at seventh, with standard, deluxe, and ultimate editions priced at 8,910 yen, 11,440 yen, and 14,960 yen respectively. The game launches on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on July 9 and on Steam on July 10.

Bandai Namco's Clearance Group Recruitment Campaign runs until July 17, allowing approved streamers to broadcast the game on Very Hard difficulty with Death Game Mode from July 9. Applicants receive a NerveGear streaming kit and a name inscription on the Monument of Life page. Sony Interactive Entertainment's talk show PLAY! PLAY! PLAY! featured two episodes on July 7 and 8, with guests Takasuke Futami and Yasuhiro Yawata showing character creation, field exploration, and boss battles.

  • Counter-Strike 2: 1st place, free-to-play, by Valve
  • Apex Legends: 2nd place, free-to-play, by Electronic Arts
  • Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond: 3rd place, free-to-play, by Cygames
  • Mucha Camaleon: 4th place, 790 yen, by lemorion_1224
  • Overwatch: 5th place, free-to-play, by Blizzard Entertainment
  • ARK: Survival Ascended: 6th place, 1,690 yen (75% off until July 10), by Studio Wildcard / Snail Games USA
  • Echoes of Aincrad: 7th place, releasing July 10, standard edition 8,910 yen, by Bandai Namco Entertainment
  • Cyberpunk 2077: 8th place, 2,633 yen (70% off until July 10), by CD PROJEKT RED
  • ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN: 9th place, 4,290 yen (25% off until July 10), by FromSoftware / Bandai Namco Entertainment
  • Dead by Daylight: 10th place, 792 yen (60% off until July 10), by Behaviour Interactive

Synthesized by Yomimono from the 6 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.

Counter-Strike 2 Echoes of Aincrad

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