The Online Qualification Round will consist of two phases. The first phase is four weeks of Online Open Play and begins on Wednesday, March 13. During the Online Qualification Round, players may participate using an existing or newly created HUT team. Each week, the top 32 players for each region on each of the Xbox®One and PlayStation®4 consoles (based on wins in up to 25 games and their in- game Skill Rating) advance to the Online Play-in Bracket. An in-game leaderboard will keep players apprised of their standing. Players who do not advance at the end of each weekly play period do not need to re-register and are eligible to play in the remaining Online Open Play opportunities. The last chance to participate in the final weekly play period is Sunday, March 31.
Hosted on Battlefy, the Online Play-in Bracket phase begins on Saturday, April 13. European Union Online Play-in Bracket dates will be April 13 and April 20; Canada will play on April 20 and April 27; and the United States will compete on April 27 and May 4. Each Online Play-in Bracket will be single- elimination and consist of head-to-head best-of-one games for the first five rounds, and a head-to-head best-of-three series for the final two rounds. Battlefy has localized the digital experience in seven languages for ease of use.
The Live Regional Final will be an in-person broadcasted tournament consisting of the top eight players from the Online Play-in Bracket for each eligible region (four per console per region). The European Finalists will compete at Viasat studios in Stockholm, Sweden, on Saturday, May 18. Canadian Regional Finalists will compete at Sportsnet studios in Toronto, Ont., on Saturday, May 25. U.S. Regional Finalists will compete at NBC Studios in Stamford, Conn., on Thursday, May 30. All series will be single-elimination best-of-three. Only the winners of each Live Regional Final are guaranteed a spot at the NHL Gaming World Championship Final™ in Las Vegas.
The NHL Gaming World Championship Final™ will return to Las Vegas during the week of the 2019 NHL Awards™. The final will feature a bracket of the winners from each region (three total), with one final spot determined through a special play-in round-robin of the runner-up from each region. The entire semifinal main bracket is best-of-three, with the winners advancing to a final to determine the 2019 NHL Gaming World Champion.