James Harden Revealed as NBA Live 18 Cover Star, Release Date Announced

Houston Rockets star James Harden will grace the cover of NBA Live 18 when it is released in stores on Sept. 19. 

EA Sports released a teaser clip for the video game on Thursday that announced Harden as this year's cover athlete:

The Rockets tweeted out the cover image of Harden:

Per Owen S. Good of Polygon, gamers who preorder a copy of NBA Live 18 will be able to play it starting Sept. 15, four days before its official release date.

There will also be a demo version of the game available starting on Friday in the Playstation Store and via Xbox Live, according to Good. 

"The demo features 'The Rise,' the prologue section of NBA Live’s new single-player career, The One," Good reported. "In 'The Rise,' users create a basketball player and take him through several developmental showcases at iconic gyms and streetball courts to improve his position in the NBA draft."

This year's game marks EA Sports' return to the Playstation 4 and Xbox One after skipping last year. There was a version of NBA Live released in 2016 for Android and iOS mobile users. 

NBA Live 18 marks Harden's first solo video game cover. The Rockets All-Star previously shared the cover of NBA 2K16 with Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans.