EA SPORTS has announced that those who own NBA LIVE 18 will be able to pre-order NBA LIVE 19 for 33% off, making it cost just $40. These pre-orders must be done digitally on PSN or XBL in-game on NBA LIVE 18 via an in-game menu panel. Community members have also noticed that EA Access users can get an additional discount, making the XB1 version cost approximately $36.

Everyone who pre-orders the game will receive 'The One Edition' which includes the following cover athlete Joel Embiid signature items: Squad Player, Jersey, Gold Shoes, Gold Basketball, Signature Celebration, Customized Court. These items can be seen below:


However, despite the effort to reward current players there are aspects to keep an eye on. Last year, NBA LIVE 18 could be pre-ordered for $40 for all users, so will this $60 price point prevent new users from giving the game a try?

NBA LIVE 18 also reached a digital price of less than $5 for a significant portion of the year. Even if a user enjoyed the game at $5, how much will they be willing to pay at launch, or will they wait for another drastic price drop during the year? Should pre-orders lag behind EA internal estimates or if they want to be more enticing versus NBA 2K19, will they lower the pre-order cost to $40 for all?

EA should continue to evaluate interest levels and pre-order numbers as NBA 2K19 begins their marketing efforts on Monday (July 2). While NBA LIVE 18 likely saw a significant increase in users due to such a low price during the year, NBA 2K18 had a record year for both sales and revenue. A strong pre-release campaign and feature set from 2K19 could negate some of the gains LIVE has made in the last calendar year and force them to make additional moves pre-release.