NBA 2K18 Prelude Release Date Revealed & Art Preview Trailer Released By 2K

NBA 2K18 is releasing soon, but a free demo for the game is coming even sooner. Per Game Informer, we now know the 2K18 Prelude will go live on PS4 and Xbox One Sept. 8. No date has been offered for other platforms.

For those who missed the hype around Prelude last year, it was essentially a quick introduction to the game’s MyPlayer mode. Players could create a custom athlete and play through his college career. While you weren’t battling top-tier NBA talent, Prelude was a nice sample of the latest gameplay mechanics. We don’t know precisely what Prelude will feature this year, but we imagine its set of options will be fairly similar.

With MyPlayer and other modes in mind, 2K took to the game’s official Twitter account to reveal a brand new developer diary focused entirely on the title’s art. In the span of three minutes, director Joel Friesch touched on some major bullet points fans might be itching to know.

If you couldn’t tell by watching the clip below, player accuracy is a major focus of this year’s game, just like it’s always been in the past. The Visual Concepts team built scans from scratch using a more varied body system to ensure every athlete's general physique is represented. As we’ve seen with the revised models for players like Celtics forward Gordon Hayward, slender body types are far more nuanced than they were in the “Slenderman” era of 2016.

Clothing has received an overhaul, too. Uniforms have been analyzed to ensure they provide the most accurate fit possible, cloth simulation has improved and “true color technology” guarantees the white balance is at bright as it can be. For those more into shoes, 2K18 reportedly has the largest collection of scanned shoes ever offered in the series.

These enhancements will obviously allow the real-world NBA athletes to look their best in-game, but equal care has been applied to MyPlayer modeling as well. The facial scan feature has been reworked for accuracy, and the customization options offer new clothes, looks and hair for those who’d prefer to build from scratch. On the physical side, height and weight are more accurately reflected alongside brand new body attributes like wingspan and shoulder length.

This latest NBA 2K18 news drop arrives mere hours after the previous one. The 2K Twitter account just recently revealed Kyrie Irving’s 90 player rating and a bunch of new gameplay impressions. This news stacks on top of the MyGm blowout and soundtrack reveal that took place in previous weeks.

Despite these hints, however, there simply hasn’t been much gameplay showcased for a title that’s expected to release so soon. Today’s diary offers some heavily stylized angles to ogle at, but we’ve yet to see what a match truly looks like in action.

NBA 2K18 is available Sept. 19 on PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Nintendo Switch and PC.

What are your thoughts on this dev diary? Will you be digging into the Prelude when it releases? Tell us in the comments section!