Anyone who has the citizenship of one of the 22 participating countries and is at least 16 years old at the time of the start of the qualification tournament. The person will need one of the supported consoles, the relevant game version, a stable internet connection, and an online membership with the relevant video game console manufacturer.

The tournament will be played with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One "versions" of NHL™ 23. So, players from all 4 consoles can participate: PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. Only players of the same console types (e.g. PS4/PS5 vs PS4/PS5 and Xbox One/Series X|S vs Xbox One/Series X|S) can compete against each other.

Can I play with any NHL 23 team?

As in the 2022 IIHF eWorld Championship, we will play the qualifying tournaments of the individual countries exclusively with the corresponding national team. As soon as the nations compete against each other, however, there will be a free choice of team in the game. In the playoffs, there will be again the restriction that a national team can only select one country per playoff round.

How many players will be able to participate for a given country in the first phase?

Basically, each country will have two open online tournaments on the IIHF Gaming Platform in the first phase. There will be an Xbox and a PlayStation tournament. Each of these tournaments has a maximum capacity of participants. The amount of possible participants is displayed within each tournament. Players can secure one of these spots before the tournament starts by pre-registering. If all player slots are full for a tournament, no other players can temporarily register.
However, immediately before the tournament starts, each pre-registered player must check in again - similar to a commercial flight. If pre-registered players do not confirm their presence up to 30 minutes before the start, these places will be released and waiting players can register immediately.