NHL 23 crossplay was announced long before this year's installment arrived, but the wait for it to go live in-game is finally over.
We've got details on exactly how NHL 23 crossplay will work, details on NHL 23 Update 1.13 Patch Notes, and the schedule as cross-platform matchmaking rolls out.
NHL 23 Crossplay release date confirmed with Update 1.13
After teasing the introduction of cross-platform matchmaking in a pre-launch trailer, NHL 23 crossplay is finally set to arrive.
Along with the deployment of NHL 23 Update 1.13, crossplay will hit this year's game officially on November 15, 2022, but it won't yet be activated.
The first phase of cross-platform matchmaking will be enabled on Thursday, November 17, 2022, just two days after the update bringing these features into the game deploys.
As of now, it looks like EA Sports has decided to take a particularly cautious approach to NHL 23 crossplay with a multi-phase rollout to minimize server issues throughout the deployment.
Cross-Platform Matchmaking: Which consoles can play together?
If you're unsure or a bit confused about how NHL 23 crossplay will work, they've provided some clarity with a chart showing things console to console.
The simple version is that you can only play with other players on the same console, but you can play against players within the same console generation.
This means Xbox One and PS4 players can compete, and similarly PS5 and Xbox Series X|S players can compete in NHL 23.
Crossplay Release Schedule by Game Mode
If you're hoping to jump right into HUT Rivals to play against someone on another console, the wait will be just a little bit longer.
With the announcement of NHL 23 crossplay, the detailed NHL 23 Update 1.13 Patch Notes have also outlined a schedule as the feature is slowly brought into place.
Anticipating potential bugs and issues as servers prepare for the load of crossplay, EA Sports is doing a five phase rollout for cross-platform matchmaking.
Here are details on each phase, when it is set to deploy, and which game modes will have crossplay activated at each stage:
- Phase 0: Tuesday, November 15
- Update 1.13 deploys, zero game modes activated
- Phase 1: Thursday, November 17
- One Eliminator and HUT Rush activated
- Phase 2: Monday, November 21
- 6v6 EASHL and 3v3 Drop-In activated
- Phase 3: Wednesday, November 23
- 6v6 Drop-In, HUT Champs, 3v3 EASHL, and Threes Eliminator activated
- Phase 4: Monday, November 28
- HUT Rivals activated
Once all the phases have gone through, NHL 23 crossplay should be active and usable across all of these online game modes.
However, it's worth noting that the purpose of this step-by-step rollout is likely in anticipation of potential issues which could easily delay the activation schedule.
If any of these phases run into problems, EA Sports may pause the next activation until they can ensure the most recent deployment is operating as intended.
Hopefully these won't cause significant delays, and NHL 23 crossplay should be fully activated and ready to use in a matter of weeks.