NHL 22 brought quite a bit of a change to the EA Sports NHL franchise, namely a new gameplay engine, roster sharing, and loadout changes that made EASHL players much more unique. However, arguably the biggest box left to check for NHL 23 is crossplay and cross-progression. Will NHL 23 give players the ability to match up and play against those who are on different platforms? We have an answer to this question.
Does NHL 23 have crossplay?
Let’s answer the first part of this question, which is yes. Although, there are some catches. For the first time, EA Sports will introduce crossplay into the EA NHL franchise for NHL 23. This new addition, per EA Sports, will be added for Hockey Ultimate Team (HUT) and EA Sports Hockey League (EASHL), as part of a post-launch update that will go live in November 2022. Players who play in either of these modes will be able to match up with those from different consoles.
As mentioned previously, there are a few catches. For one, the functionality is limited to crossplay matchmaking, and is limited by generation. PlayStation 5 players can only match up with PS5 and Xbox Series X players, and vice versa for those on the Series X. PlayStation 4 players can match up with PS4 and Xbox One players, and the same applies for the Xbox One.
Second, this addition only applies to matchmaking for HUT and EASHL, and does not apply to other features like Online Versus play.
Does NHL 23 have Cross-progression?
Cross-progression in NHL 22 allowed players to transfer certain items from old-gen to the current-generation of consoles, and the same will apply for NHL 23. In November, EA Sports will give players the ability to transfer “their HUT team value and progress” from the PS4/Xbox One to the PS5/Xbox Series X version.
