NHL 25: Release date, trailer, features, more

NHL 25 will launch worldwide in October 2024, and will be a shakeup both in terms of functionality and console availability.

Hockey season isn’t far off, as the first preseason games will kick off in September. EA Sports got the puck moving in late August, when the publisher officially unveiled first details on the new game.

EA released information new gameplay features, the cover athletes, and the release date. This year’s game, by the way, will be the earliest it’s been released since the migration over to Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5.

Here’s a look at what’s known about NHL 25.

Release date

NHL 25 will be released on October 4, 2024, with early access starting seven days early on September 27. This information was confirmed by EA in August 2024.

Cover athletes

Quinn, Jack, and Luke Hughes are the three featured cover athletes for the NHL 25 Deluxe Edition. Devils center Jack Hughes will be on the cover of the standard edition in the U.S., while Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes will be the standard edition cover athlete in Canada and the rest of the world.

Trailer

Here’s the official teaser trailer for NHL 25:

Will NHL 25 be available for the Nintendo Switch and PC?

No, NHL 25 will not be on the Nintendo Switch or PC.

A NHL game has not been made available on the Switch in its existence. As for the PC, one would have to go back to NHL 09 for the last release. The development team stated regarding NHL 25 on PC, “Right now, we’re focused on NHL 25 coming out on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. There aren’t any current plans to bring NHL 25 to PC.”

Will NHL 25 be available for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4?

No, there will not be a Xbox One or PlayStation 4 version of NHL 25.

It marks the first time since 2014 a game for either two consoles will not be made available.

New features

Gameplay-wise, EA will introduce next-gen vision controls to the game, as well as new animations, and tuned one-timers. When we spoke to EA about NHL 25 in August, the development team told us that agility and acceleration attributes would be the influences for next-gen vision control, as players with higher figures in these attributes can shift direction easier.

EA went into more detail on gameplay in early September with their gameplay trailer:

Additionally, the pressure system has been tuned. Developers told us that for NHL 25, attacking players will be able to gain more stamina back when full pressure is engaged.

This year’s game will also feature a “Grudge Match” feature, which will be for both online and offline game modes. Here, a pre-game scene will include past matchup information and “Impact Players” will receive special X-Factors related to past performance.

On September 20, EA Sports went over the redesigned version of Franchise Mode. While it won’t have GM Connected, it will have a re-designed home hub, complete box scores for all contests, split stats, contract negotiations, and the presence of no-trade clauses.

On September 25, EA revealed its plans for Hockey Ultimate Team. Among the new additions include a new Wildcard mode, which will allow players to draft & assemble rosters for either online or single-player action. Additionally, Squad Battles and Rivals will share a singular progression XP path that will include tokens and card rewards, mirroring what EA does with Field Pass in Madden.

For more information on upcoming sports games, be sure to check out what’s in store for NBA 2K25. And for more info on NHL 25, check out who are the highest-rated players in this year’s game