UPDATE (8/27/20)
EA Sports announced this afternoon that the World of CHEL feature reveal will be pushed back to a later date.
We had planned to share more news about NHL 21 today. Out of respect for much more important conversations around social injustice, today is not the day. We stand with the African American / Black community in solidarity against racism.
— EA SPORTS NHL (@EASPORTSNHL) August 27, 2020
Last night, the players for the Milwaukee Bucks led a strike of the NBA playoffs. The remaining five NBA playoff teams followed. Then, the WNBA and MLB followed suit. The decision to withhold news to avoid distracting from the injustices Black, Indigenous and people of color are facing in America is admirable. Especially because the decision was made less than a day after the initial road map announcement. EA also announced they would be delaying the NHL 21Â closed beta, and would announce more info on it soon.
NHL 21 Content Reveal Road Map
After a month of information trickling in, NHL 21 has announced its content reveal schedule via Twitter. We’ll be seeing five big NHL 21 updates in the next few months leading up to its October 16 release date.
The first big announcement starts tomorrow, with a look at NHL 21’s World of CHEL. The World of CHEL is NHL’s game type hub world. EA confirmed NHL 21’s four World of CHEL game modes already: Ones, Threes, Drop-in and Clubs. Expect to see more on those modes plus some create-a-player goodies.
In mid-September we’ll get our first look at NHL 21 gameplay. We’ll close out September with an in-depth look at the Hockey Ultimate Team. The NHL 21 reveal confirmed a new Ultimate Team game mode, HUT RUSH, so expect to hear more about that. It’ll be interesting to see an Ultimate Team presentation while EA is under continued legal pressure over it’s Ultimate Team monetization strategy.
Finally, in October, we’ll start to get a look at NHL 21’s single player focused modes: Be A Pro and the Franchise Mode. EA has referenced the community’s push for an overhaul to its Be A Pro mode. It’s interesting, then, that the reveal for this mode comes so close to the game’s release. The big thing we know so far about NHL 21’s new Franchise Mode is the addition of the trade deadline. Hopefully we see a deep-dive into how the trade deadline actually effects player’s market value and the game’s AI trade algorithms. All in all, we’ve got a solid content map. The only real thing missing is a date for the closed beta, which opened sign-ups back in July.
Find future NHL 21 updates, including tomorrow’s first look at the World of CHEL, right here at Sports Gamers Online. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more updates, and check out our forums for more NHL 21 speculation.
