Now in its fifth season, the 2022 NHL® Gaming World Championship™ is the NHL’s premier global esports competition that features the best European and North American EA SPORTS™ NHL® 22 players, competing to take home their share of the $100k prize pool and ultimate bragging rights in the world of Chel.
The first GWC European Qualifiers wrapped up this past weekend with the Regions of Finland, Norway/Denmark and Germany/Austria/Switzerland participating in single-elimination, best-of-three, bracket play.
By winning their respective European Qualifier tournaments, players bypass the European Online Open Play queue and advance directly to the Console Final (to be played in April). The European Qualifier winner will take home the $500 USD prize and be seeded among Week 1 qualifiers from the Online Open Play.
Each of the four (4) consoles – PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X – qualified a winner.
Finland:
PS4: RitvanPoika (Hannes Kettunen), Vantaa, Finland
PS5: temppanen (Teemu Karvonen), Oulu, Finland
Xbox One: theplayer#2248 (Toivo Suomalainen), Tempere, Finland
Xbox Series X: Kibeeex (Tommi Lehtimäki), Vantaa, Finland
Norway/Denmark:
PS4: MAXI1984CVM (Marc Svensson), Glostrup, Denmark
PS5: sindrewitnes01 (Sindre Witnes), Sarpsborg, Norway
Xbox One: xSasha16x (Steffen Sutherland), Sylling, Norway
Germany/Austria/Switzerland:
PS4: Scampi-Slims (Ariel Bezzola), Geneva, Switzerland
PS5: Original-snus (Sven Julmi), Wetzikon, Switzerland
Xbox One: Venomenyce (Martin Perenz), Oberhausen, Germany
Xbox Series X: M3ntle5048 (John Salvi), Switzerland
Tournament format explainer video (3:00)
GWC North America Online Open Play registration is now closed.
GWC European Online Open Play registration is open until April 3, 2022
March 23 – 27: North American Online Open Play: Week 2
March 26 – 27:European Qualifiers for Regions of Czech Republic/Slovakia, Sweden and United Kingdom/Ireland.
March 30 – April 3: European Online Open Play: Week 1
Chris Golier, NHL Vice President of Business Development and Innovation speaks with NHL.com’s Dan O’Leary on the tournament’s new features, exciting opportunities and what fans can expect from NHL GWC Season Five.
Hosted by DreamHack Sports Games, the NHL GWC European Championship will take place live in-person on Saturday, June 4 at GG22, Europe’s biggest sports gaming festival at MECC Maastricht, Netherlands. GG22 brings sports and gaming fans together in a dynamic festival environment full of entertainment and sports gaming activities.
Festival Page: https://ggdreamhacksports.com/nhl-gwc-european-championship/
Twitch: Livestreams and tournament highlights will be available here and on-demand.
Tournament content will be available on the NHL’s digital platforms, co-streamed on ELEAGUETV as well as available on the digital platforms of broadcast partners.
The 2022 NHL Gaming World Championship™ will be distributed by NHL global broadcast partners: Turner Sports in the U.S., Sportsnet in Canada, Viaplay and NENT Group in the Nordics as well as NHL rights partners throughout Europe.
Teksti Mika Pukkinen (NHL.com Finland), speaks with EKI about his success in NHL GWC and how he’s preparing for this year’s tournament.
