Michael van Gerwen was the defending champion after defeating Rob Cross 6–4 in 2017's final.

Van Gerwen won his third consecutive European Darts Trophy title and his 28th European Tour title in total after an 8–3 win over James Wade in the final.

This is how the prize money is divided: Prize money will count towards the PDC Order of Merit, the ProTour Order of Merit and the European Tour Order of Merit, with one exception: should a seeded player lose in the second round (last 32), their prize money will not count towards any Orders of Merit, although they still receive the full prize money payment.

[1][2] The top 16 entrants from the PDC ProTour Order of Merit on 12 September will automatically qualify for the event and will be seeded in the second round.

Mensur Suljović and Adrian Lewis, who would have been the number 6 and 7 seeds respectively, withdrew from the tournament prior to the draw.