NHL 21 has been delayed to October and won't offer next-gen version on PS5 and Xbox Series X this year.
A letter from EA Vancouver reads:
This year has been full of extraordinary circumstances and we’ve had to make major adjustments in developing the game from home. This transition has been very successful and we’re happy to say that the game is on track and feature-complete against our original vision, we just need a few extra weeks to do the polish, fine tuning and bug fixing. We know some of you will be disappointed by this news, but our goal with NHL 21 is to deliver an experience that will be worth the wait.
The studio promised a first-look at the game in August. The letter has also confirmed no next-gen offerings for hockey simulator this year.
The letter continued:
Another thing we’ve seen questions around is next-gen consoles. For NHL 21, we made the decision to focus on adding innovation and new features rather than the resource-heavy task of porting the game to new console technology. You’ll still be able to play NHL 21 on the next-gen consoles through forward compatibility but we are fully focused on launching NHL 21 on the Xbox One and PS4 and look forward to the opportunities the next-gen systems will bring in the future.
NHL 21 heads to PS4 and Xbox One in October 2020.