Coming in November, NHL 23 is making the most of the Frostbite engine to add 500 new last chance playmaking animations, bring arenas to life with atmosphere improvements, deepening franchise-mode customization, and adding new ways to play Hockey Ultimate Team (HUT) by adding the IIHF Women’s National Teams - putting the best women’s and men’s players in the world onto the ice together. That last bit is especially noteworthy, as women have been incorporated into sports games before, such as in the FIFA series, but I've not seen a sports sim game actually put them head to head before. So beyond a franchise first of adding Canada's own Sarah Nurse to the cover alongside Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks, NHL is also notching a sports sim first as well.
HUT is also getting some new games modes and three additional tiers in HUT Rivals Rewards. There are the usual pre-order bonuses for the Standard Edition and even more loot with the "X-Factor Edition" with details on the official site. NHL 23 will be available October 14th on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. As for the cross platform matchmaking, that will come about a month after release, in November.
