The timing is later than usual, but the first look at EA Sports’ NHL 21 will arrive Monday with the game’s official reveal trailer and likely the announcement of its cover star.
The upcoming iteration of EA’s annual hockey franchise was quietly announced last month in a letter published by series developer EA Vancouver, which gave players a heads up that the game had to be pushed out of its usual September launch window and into October because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The letter also confirmed the disappointing, but not entirely unexpected news that there will be no next-gen versions of NHL 21 for the launches of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X in the fall. The current-gen PS4 and Xbox One versions, however, will be forward compatible with the new consoles.
While there’s still plenty of room for improvement, the NHL series has made a number of positive strides in the past couple of years when it comes to gameplay improvements and modes. Skating was overhauled to better represent the speed and agility of NHL-level skating, Franchise Mode has seen a steady flow of tweaks and additions with the past two games, and World of Chel was introduced — consolidating EASHL, Threes, and Ones all into one online suite, with a bevy of customization options to better express yourself through your Be A Pro.
EA is also finally making a bigger (but long overdue) push to rid the game of racist and overall offensive behavior in its online modes, but there’s still a ways to go on that front.
The annual reveal trailers aren’t typically much more than one-minute long hype videos with short cuts of gameplay, but it’s usually enough for an eagle-eyed community to spot a few gameplay and presentation changes.
The reveal trailer will debut on NHL’s YouTube channel, which you can set a reminder for here or with the embed below:
You can also check NHL 20’s reveal trailer from last year to get an idea on what to expect.
NHL 21 launches Oct. 16 for the PS4 and Xbox One.
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