Today, EA finally gave us an update on its NHL series, including a release window and when you’ll get your first look at the game. Unforunately, NHL 21 will release a little later than previous entries. The new iteration launches this October instead of September.
In a blog post to the community, EA wrote: “This year has been full of extraordinary circumstances and we’ve had to make major adjustments in developing the game from home. This transition has been very successful and we’re happy to say that the game is on track and feature-complete against our original vision, we just need a few extra weeks to do the polish, fine tuning and bug fixing. We know some of you will be disappointed by this news, but our goal with NHL 21 is to deliver an experience that will be worth the wait.”
The blog post also said to expect a first look in late August, and that the team will reveal more details closer to that date. Traditionally, a demo has always hit a few weeks before the game, but it’s unclear if that will also happen this year.
The post wrapped up by addressing some new-gen concerns, and what the team has prioritized. “For NHL 21, we made the decision to focus on adding innovation and new features rather than the resource-heavy task of porting the game to new console technology. You’ll still be able to play NHL 21 on the next-gen consoles through forward compatibility but we are fully focused on launching NHL 21 on the Xbox One and PS4 and look forward to the opportunities the next-gen systems will bring in the future.”
The good news is the series was in need of some new features and innovation. The bad news is it looks like there won’t any difference between current and new-gen versions. Still, at the end of the day, it’s good to see that EA is focusing on the game being feature complete, something the series struggled with when coming to the PS4 and Xbox One.
You can read the full post here for more details.
Source: Game Informer
