It’s a question that gets asked essentially every year. Hockey enthusiasts have inquired for quite some time about a PC version of EA’s NHL franchise, even though one has not launched since NHL 09 in 2008. Will things change for 2021? It doesn’t appear to be the case at this time.
EA Sports did not release official details on NHL 22 until almost two months before the title’s release date, but it seemed like a PC release would be implausible before then. In early August, EA Sports launched a beta registration form, in which interested individuals could sign up to test a beta of the game. The NHL 22 beta test form listed several consoles, including both old and next-gen PlayStation and Xbox versions. On the other hand, PC owners were not one of the parties indicated as eligible participants of the closed technical test.
And on August 19, EA Sports confirmed console information for NHL 22. While EA Sports will bring NHL to the Xbox Series X and PS5 this year, PC will not receive a version for 2021.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that this is another year in which NHL will not be available on the PC platform. EA Sports hasn’t launched a version of the NHL series on PC in over a decade. The fact that EA Sports will bring NHL to the next-gen in 2021 for the first time (EA opted not to in 2020 due to the “resource-heavy task of porting the game to new console technology”), it seems like another instance in which the developer has opted to devote more resources to consoles.
If things do change on this front, this guide will be updated to reflect any new information.
Published: Aug 19, 2021 10:53 am