Similar to last season, the 2022 NHL® Gaming World Championship™ will consist of two separate tournaments with a Champion being crowned in both North America and Europe. Gamers will have the opportunity to play on one of four consoles through the Console Finals -- Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5 -- following which, all game play will be on the PlayStation 5 console for the applicable Championship rounds. While tournament early rounds will be contested remotely, plans are being made to host both Championship events in-person.
NHL.com's Dan O'Leary speaks with Chris Golier, NHL Vice President of Business Development and Innovation, on the tournament's new features, exciting opportunities and what fans can expect from NHL GWC Season Five.
The NHL GWC - Europe brings a new and exciting tournament format to life. It features more chances to play, with the addition of regional-based European Qualifier tournaments that will allow players to bypass the Online Open Play queue and advance directly to the European Console Final. While both the first- and second-place players ultimately will advance, only the European Qualifier winners will take home the $500 USD prize for emerging from their respective Console Final. European Qualifier winners will be seeded among Week 1 qualifiers from the Online Open Play.
European Qualifier matches for the NHL GWC - Europe will take place online during consecutive weekends: March 19-20 for the regions of Finland, Norway/Denmark and Germany/Austria/Switzerland, and March 26-27 for Czech Republic/Slovakia, Sweden and United Kingdom/Ireland. The European Qualifiers will be played in Versus mode, before the format switches to Hockey Ultimate Team™ (HUT) for Online Open Play and beyond. Beginning in the semifinal round, the Console Final will be double-elimination, giving players a second chance to advance to the European Championship.