How to Download the NBA 2K18 Prelude

Beginning today, almost anyone with a PS4 and Xbox One can download the NBA 2K18 Prelude and experience some of what is coming when NBA 2K18 Early Tip-Off Weekend arrives on September 15th.

The NBA 2K18 Prelude is a small taste of what’s available in the final version of NBA 2K18. As with last year’s demo, you can create your MyPlayer character and count on your character’s style and any progress you’ve made transferring to NBA 2K18. However, unlike last year’s Prelude, this year’s demo focuses heavily on The Neighborhood. It’s an online digital world. 2K Games and Visual Concepts have joined the MyCareer story, Pro-Am and casual street balling into one online area where you can also customize your character, practice and switch between modes without backing out to a menu. You can see the custom players of other gamers too.

Here’s how to download the NBA 2K18 Prelude on your Xbox One or PS4.

Read: NBA 2K18 Release Date, Features & Details

Download the NBA 2K18 Prelude on Xbox One

If you’re not at home now, the easiest way to download the NBA 2K18 Prelude on Xbox One is to use Microsoft’s Windows Store. If your Xbox One has an internet connection and uses the Always Connected power option to go to sleep instead of turning off completely, you will find the demo on your console when you arrive home.

Go to Xbox.com in your web browser.

Click the Sign In link in the top-right corner of your screen. You must use the same Microsoft Account that’s connected to your Xbox Live Gamertag and Xbox One for this to work. Microsoft may ask you to verify your identity with a code.

Type NBA 2K18 The Prelude into the search box in the top-right corner of your screen or click here.

Click on the blue Get It Now button.

The NBA 2K18 Prelude is free, so if you’re asked to pay anything, you are on the wrong store page. Click on Get.

Now click on Close.

If your console doesn’t download new games and game updates when it’s sleeping, manually download the NBA 2K18 Prelude from the My Games and Apps are when you get home. You don’t need to visit the store again to get access. The NBA 2K18 Prelude for Xbox One takes up 11.7 GB of space. If you don’t have enough, you will need to remove some older titles to make room for it. You can also add storage to your console through its USB port.

Read: 5 Best Xbox One Hard Drives

Download the NBA 2K18 Prelude on PS4

As with the Xbox One, the easiest way to download the NBA 2K18 Prelude is to visit the PlayStation Store.

Open your web browser and go to the PlayStation Store.

Click the Sign In link in the top-right corner of your screen.  Again, this account needs to match the account you use on your PS4.

Use the search box to look for NBA 2K18: The Prelude or click here.

Now click on Add to Cart, and complete the checkout process.

Go to your PS4 and look for the NBA 2K18 Prelude in your collection. If it’s not there, manually start it and wait for the download to finish.

The PS4 version of the NBA 2K18 Prelude takes up 12.4 GB of space. So, be sure you have that much space available on your console. If you don’t have enough space, remove some older games or add a USB hard drive to your PS4 to hold your growing collection.

Why You Can’t Download the NBA 2K18 Prelude

Unfortunately, you can’t download the NBA 2K18 Prelude if you don’t have an Xbox One or PS4.

There’s no Prelude on the Xbox 360 or PS3 because the NBA 2K franchise isn’t getting significant updates on those consoles anyway. In fact, NBA 2K18 belongs to a shrinking pool of titles launching on those consoles. 2K Games could decide to remove support for Xbox 360 and PS3 with the NBA 2K19 release.

Read: NBA 2K18 Features: 7 Reasons to Upgrade

We don’t know why there’s no NBA 2K18 Prelude release for the Nintendo Switch, just that it’s not coming. We do know that gamers can’t buy a physical copy of NBA 2K18 for Nintendo Switch until October 17th, so 2K Games and Visual Concepts may have just run out of time to create one. The digital version of the game will still launch on September 15th, just like the Xbox One and PS4 versions.

Read: NBA 2K18 Nintendo Switch Release Date, Features & Details

What You Can Do in the NBA 2K18 Prelude

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The Prelude exists to give gamers a taste of special features from each year’s final game. For example, the NBA 2K17 Prelude let gamers create their own MyPlayer character and start the game’s story. You get to try The Neighborhood when you download the NBA 2K18 Prelude. Read: NBA 2K18 MyCareer: What’s New   The Neighborhood is an open-world area, where gamers can get their hair cut, buy new shoes, play against other players casually, compete in a ProAm tournament or hang out and enjoy some arcade games. All told, The Neighborhood is a lot like GTA Online’s sprawling Los Santos world. You even see other players move around The Neighborhood as you explore it.

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