With the NHL playoffs starting up our attention turns away from NHL 18 and on to next year’s game, NHL 19. The first and most important question that hockey gamers want to know is, when does NHL 19 come out?
The short answer is that EA Sports hasn’t publicly announced their intended release date for NHL 19, but we did a little research so we can predict with a high degree of confidence when you will be able to get your hands on the new game.
As most seasoned sports gamers know, game releases generally coincide with the start of a new season. Usually it will be a few weeks before the actual season begins. That is when most fans are most excited.
If you take a look at the past 5 years of NHL video game release dates, a clear pattern starts to emerge.
- NHL 18 release date – September 15th, 2017
- NHL 17 release date – September 13th, 2016
- NHL 16 release date – September 9th, 2015
- NHL 15 release date – September 9th, 2014
- NHL 14 release date – September 10th, 2013
Historically, EA Sports releases their NHL game on the 2nd Tuesday of September but on all of their “18” releases this past year they moved back the release date by 3 days making the official release on a Friday.
Hardcore gamers can usually spend an extra $20 to get the game 3 days earlier (as well as a few other perks) on Tuesday instead. This business model tweak seems to have been successful for Electronic Arts so it is unlikely we see it changed.
So to answer the question of when NHL 19 will be released, there is a good chance it will be Friday, September 14th, 2018. That will be for the regular edition which will be priced at $59.99. A deluxe edition will run you $79.99 and will likely be playable on Tuesday, September 11th, 2018.
Do you plan on picking up NHL 19 when it first drops? Let us know in the comments.