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E3 2018: NBA Live 19 Drives to the Hoop on September 7

The next iteration of EA's semi-annual hoops game will be released late this summer.

David Craddock

June 9, 2018 11:45 AM

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At its annual EA Play not-E3-but-sort-of-E3 conference, EA announced an early September release date for NBA Live 19 on Xbox One and PS4. 

NBA Live 19 looks to continue EA's well-received tradition of including a story mode in addition to exhibition games, online play, and other features designed to let players dial in the series' simulation elements exactly to their liking.

EA has a bevy of new features planned for this year's installment of NBA Live. "Players will be invited to take their game around the world, facing opponents on new courts in Paris, Brazil and the Philippines, with each court and tournament offering unique rules and challenges specific to those courts," per a press release sent to Shacknews. "NBA LIVE 19 also marks the introduction of Real Player Motion (RPM) Tech into the franchise, introducing thousands of new animations and smoother gameplay than ever before. The game offers more choices for clothes, shoes and gear, and a new progression-system modeled after some of the sport’s greatest icons."

One change on the technical side is that NBA Live 19 will not run on EA's Frostbite engine. In an interview with Game Informer, executive producer Seann Graddy said that EA Sports titles will be sharing tech going forward. That could meant that NBA Live will be using Real Motion Technology. We'll likely learn more about the game's underpinnings this week during E3.

NBA Live 19 joins a solid lineup of other sports titles due for release later this year, including Madden 19 for PC, marking the franchise's return to the platform after a 10-year absence.

David Craddock

Long Reads Editor

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.