Is NHL 21 Coming to Next-Gen Consoles?

While NHL 21 released on October 16th on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X on the horizon, people are wondering whether or not we’ll be able to experience the latest iteration of EA Sports’ storied hockey franchise on these next-gen systems. Even though the game has been certified as compatible with PS5, the verdict is out on whether or not NHL 21 will be absolutely compatible with Xbox Series X at this time, though I don’t feel there will be any problems with running the game.

EA Sports made an announcement earlier this year that to adhere to the tradition of releasing in the fall months when exhibition games would usually start up – not this year, of course, thanks to current circumstances – they have no plans to release a version of the game for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and there won’t likely be any plans going forward. They state that it would have been difficult to streamline the game experience and still release it on time.

So, for now, if you want to play NHL 21 on your next-gen console, it will have to be through backward compatibility.

Be sure to check out our review of the game, which released on October 16th, 2020 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.