Following the announcement of its cover stars Trevor Zegras and Sarah Nurse, EA Sports has officially announced NHL 23 with a debut gameplay trailer, release date and details on what’s new for this year’s professional hockey game.

NHL 23 will be released on October 14 for Xbox and PlayStation consoles and, for the first time in the series, there will be cross-platform matchmaking for some of its modes. Cross-platform matchmaking will launch in November and is limited to Hockey Ultimate Team and World of Chel modes.

Clappy, the Community Manager for NHL 23, shared the news about crossplay and what it means for the game. “For the first time in franchise history, Xbox and PlayStation players will be able to take on each other in NHL 23,” Clappy said. More details on cross-platform matchmaking are available via the link below.

Also new for NHL 23 are an additional 500 “last chance” animations. When players run into the ice, they can perform desperate moves like shooting and kneeling. This is an effort to bring flashy, standout objectives to the game. Along those lines, the “Zegras flip” has been added to NHL 23. This will allow players to pass the puck alley-oop to a player in front of the net, just like Zegras did last season.

Also, AI goalkeepers are now better and smarter; can do despair parries thanks to 350 new save animations.

Members of the IIHF Women’s National Team can now play alongside the men in Hockey Ultimate Team. However, fights between male and female hockey players are not allowed, EA said in a presentation attended by GameSpot.

NHL 23 runs on the Frostbite engine and also promises more realistic and reactive crowds that boo players and make noise at odd man runs, as well as updates to Franchise Mode to give players more control over managing teams. a team. In terms of visual updates, there are new skin animations to highlight blemishes and new gear like mirrored visors and gold helmets. Ice will now show more realistic scratches and ice buildup will collect in the corners as games progress. Also, ice spray will leave marks on the boards just like it would in real life.

The X-Factor skills from last year’s game also return this year and add new ones, including “Skilled Up” which is meant to highlight Zegras’ incredible gaming skills.

Also, EA developers explained that NHL 23 will not have Russian or Belarusian teams due to the war in Ukraine. Another thing to keep in mind is that the Arizona Coyotes will be playing in a smaller stadium to reflect the real-world debacle of what’s happening in their home situation.