The National Hockey League has announced the return of the annual EA Sports NHL World Championship esports tournament for the newly released NHL 24. Scheduled to kick off in January after registration opens in December, the virtual hockey competition will once again showcase the top EA Sports NHL 24 players in the world.
6 Players Will Compete Live in Global Final
The NHL 24 World Championship will introduce several new features to build on previous seasons’ success. This includes expanding the final in-person event to six total players – four North American and two European competitors battling for the coveted World Champion title and grand prize.
“Adding the 32 Club Championship events last season significantly increased opportunities for the NHL gaming community to participate,” said NHL Vice President Chris Golier. “We continue prioritising fun and inclusivity when planning each season’s format to provide memorable experiences.”
Key Details For NHL 24 World Championships
While full details around registration, tournament structure, and streaming schedules will come in the next few weeks, some key changes are already confirmed:
- Both the champion and runner-up from the 32 NHL Club esports tournaments will automatically qualify for the North American Championship knockout stage this season. They will also receive higher seeding than Online Open qualifiers.
- An in-person NHL 24 World Championship qualifying event will occur at the 2024 All-Star Weekend in Toronto. The top four players will earn top seeds for the North American Finals.
- The 2024 Stadium Series esports event will be a separate mini-tournament just for bragging rights and a commemorative trophy. It will not qualify players for the World Championship.
- Two Open Play events in Europe – the New Year’s Tournament and EU Chel Challenge – will each qualify the winner and runner-up from PlayStation and Xbox for higher seeding in the European bracket.
- All matches will use PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles exclusively with expanded cross-play capabilities between platforms.
- A more condensed schedule concludes the tournament in April alongside the NHL’s regular season.
Along with the competitive updates, NHL 24 brings gameplay innovations like goalie fatigue, momentum-shifting body checks, enhanced passing and controls, a new physics engine and over 75 new goal celebrations. Plus cross-play across all online modes and a presentation replicating the authentic in-arena atmosphere.
If you’re interested, you can stay up to date by following the official tournament website which will keep you in the loop.
The NHL 24 World Championship provides another year of unpredictable, high-energy virtual hockey action for elite players and fans worldwide. With an expanded field and improvements based on community feedback, the prestigious esports competition continues evolving into a can’t-miss event on the gaming calendar.
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