NHL 20 is coming to Xbox One and PS4 on September 13, 2019, bringing the fast and furious sport of hockey to your preferred console. Although that is just under two months away, you will be able to check out some of its features with the NHL 20 open beta. This guide will go over when the start time, the duration of the beta, and what you can expect to see when you boot it up.
NHL 20 Open Beta Start Time | How and when you can begin playing
You may want to get those skating fingers ready because you can participate in the NHL 20 Open Beta right now. Between July 26 and July 31, you can choose one of your favorite NHL teams and go head-to-head on either Xbox One or PS4, as well as check out what improvements have been made to the game since last year’s iteration.
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Participating in the open beta is pretty easy. Simply go to the Xbox Store or PlayStation Store, search for the NHL 20 Open Beta, and press that download button. Sign up isn’t required since this is a public test. It should be noted that an internet connection, EA account, and accepting a few agreements and policies are required to participate in the NHL 20 Open Beta. Additionally, you may need an Xbox Live Gold or PlayStation Plus subscription depending on which platform you decide to play the beta.
If you’re expecting your earned gear in World of CHEL or wins in Online Versus to carry over to the new game, you are out of luck. All progress made in the beta will not transfer to the full NHL 20 game when it releases in September.
Lastly, since this is a beta, this is your chance to give feedback to the developers on what you believe needs tuning before the game launches. If you do have any feedback to give, you can go to the EA forums and post your report there.
NHL 20 Open Beta | Features
The NHL 20 Open Beta will bring features players will be familiar with, as well as entirely brand new experiences. The traditional Online Versus mode will be available for you to play. This particular mode will be a good way to see just how much NHL 20 has improved (or tarnished) the long-running sports series.
Most notably, this includes the new implementations made using RPM Tech which was introduced in NHL 19. Specifically, this tech was used to improve shooting, puck pickups, body fluidity, and goaltender animations. Additionally, this tech also helped implement Superstar Signature Shots, so your favorite NHL pros not only look but feel how they do in the real world.
More exciting that Online Versus, you can explore the World of CHEL in the NHL 20 Open Beta. World of CHEL is a mode that packages a bunch of old and new modes together all tied to a single progression system where you can unlock gear for your created character and play some of the game’s wilder modes.
In addition to the NHL Ones and NHL Threes modes, the new Eliminator mode will be part of NHL 20‘s World of CHEL this year. If you don’t want to wait, it is available to play on the open beta this weekend.
This is the mode many have said is a “battle royale” mode for the NHL game series. In some ways, it could be considered that. More specifically, it is a survival tournament bracket where 81 players compete against each other. You can either go solo in Ones Eliminator or with a group of three with Threes Eliminator. The player or team that wins four back-to-back matches wins the game. That means this is a single-elimination bracket, so once you lose, you are cut from the tournament.
