EA Sports is throwing its hat in the basketball games ring yet again with this year’s NBA Live 18 attempting to go head to head with 2K’s dominating NBA 2K series. Ahead of the game’s release, EA Sports has revealed some information about the upcoming game.

For instance, the cover athlete for the game has now been revealed- it will be James Harden of the Houston Rockets. “When I heard about working with EA Sports and being the cover athlete of NBA Live 18 I was pretty excited for the opportunity. NBA Live 18 is all about creating your own identity and making your mark on the league, and I can definitely relate to that. If anybody knows about creativity it’s me,” Harden said about the partnership.

EA Sports had some other news, all of it good, about the upcoming basketball game as well. They confirmed that the game will now be launching on September 15 for the PS4 and Xbox One, rather than its earlier nebulous ‘December’ release window. They also reiterated that the demo for the game will be launching tomorrow, on August 11.

The demo will include ‘The Rise’, which is the prologue for the game’s story campaign, and specially timed Raid style events, to keep players returning to it. All progress made into the demo will carry over into the final game. Finally, pre-ordering the game will get you a 33% (or $20) discount on it as well. It seems as though EA is really eager to surmount the years of negative perception the NBA Live brand has built up- and hey, getting the demo out so early is definitely encouraging.

NBA Live 18 launches on the PS4 and Xbox One on September 18.

EA Sports’ NBA Live 18 was announced at EA Play and suffice to say, the developer is taking an interesting approach to the classic basketball franchise. Check out the reveal trailer below.

NBA Live 18 will have a new mode called The One but this isn’t just another offshoot of The Journey from FIFA. Instead, it will see players able to choose between The Streets, competing in 5v5 matches in places like Venice Beach, or competing in The League for official NBA competition. Through these matches, players will earn new gear and upgrade aspects like shoes and other accessories.

EA also confirmed that NBA Live 18 would have a free demo coming in August. Any progress made will transfer over to the full game when it releases.

NBA Live 18 will be coming to Xbox One, PS4 and PC. What are your thoughts on The One mode and other new features? Let us know in the comments and stay tuned for more information from E3 2017.