Recent Discussions
Mike Inglehart and Chris Haluke
They've been behind the wheel for 3 seasons now. They sat down for an interview 2 years ago.. https://x.com/EASPORTSNHL/status/1690015344847355905?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1690015344847355905%7Ctwgr%5E65931391f104485296217d7af834ce85564ced0a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthehockeynews.com%2Fgaming%2Flatest-news%2Fea-sports-nhl-is-trending-in-the-right-direction They spoke about multi year projects. Their first title 24 was not gonna have much because they needed time.. 23 didnt get many updates and they cut out the full presentation because they were hard at work for 24 and beyond. 24 they gave us a pressure system and fatigue system that was met with mixed reviews at best. 25 released and skill based 1T.. again at best mixed reviews.. 26 so far.. looks like even less. Unless this BAP update is really big, where are these multi year projects? Where is the gm connected they spoke about? I get that their budget is smaller, I get they only have 12 months to make this game (and let's be honest, they have 12 months. I get the game ships at a specific date and updates need to be made and stuff but if they have multi year projects they can be working in those through any development cycle time.) Other games are pushing games out with more updates in similar times, so is it JUST budget? How much does this game make/ need to make or how many years does it take to equal what 2k gets in 1 year that we can see the same developmental leap that that game gets vs this one? 5 years? 10 years? 20? We're stealing some things from other EA titles like fans and the physics engine. I mean where do we set the bar for what we should expect from year to year? What is fair? I'm trying to be fair but this is a bad look, right? Every 5 years each mode gets a new look. It's most modes are riddled with issues from year to year and we wait 5 years to see if they get addressed. When even the people who make a living playing this game, hyping this game, and creating content for this game are having a hard time saying much positive about this.. we're in an extremely uncomfortable place, right? These developers suggested we would have a discord. They failed to ever open it up. If they wanted to improve this game.. the first step would be creating open discussion. Open communication about what theyre developing. I wouldn't be hiding anything. If they came out and said "hey, we're sorry we couldn't get GM connected finished this year. This is where we are with it. We didnt want to rush it. It is being worked on." That would do WONDERS. If they spoke about what they are doing or planning with WoC or threw out some polls on what we think that would do wonders. The radio silence, lack of any development, and failed promises are not giving fans any confidence that these guys are the right guys for the job. You can go back to my posts when this interview initially happened and I was extremely happy and hopeful they would change things around. Where do we go from here? How long is their leash? I just want a hockey game that feels like its made in the same century as NBA 2K as far as features and presentation. NHL 25 was the first NHL game I didnt pre order since I started buying. All my friends did the same. I bought after it went on sale, half of my friends did the same. I don't see why this year will be any different. I'll be surprised if any of them buy it even after it goes on sale this time around. Seems more and more that's what I see people saying. People are giving up, their time and money isn't being respected or put back into development. I can't for sure say this is them or EA execs being the main issue but idk where we go from here.. just seems to be a giant disconnect. If I'm producing a game I'd want as much info and feedback as I could get and fix all the main issues people are having. They roll out with the pressure system and got rid of dumping the puck.. that is something that a poll or discord discussion could have stopped.. it was wasted development time in most people's eyes. I'm just confused as to where we are or where we're headed..
EA Play 10 Hour Trial Details
Hey, NHL Fans. All the details for the NHL 26 10 hour trial can be found here. EA Play provides members with: Unlimited Access to Top EA Titles: Dive into a collection of fan-favorite series and top games, playing as much as you want as long as you're a member. Early Access Trials: Play select new-release games for up to 10 hours before they officially launch. Your progress carries over if you decide to purchase the game. Exclusive Member Rewards: Unlock special in-game challenges, rewards, and member-only content. Discounts on EA Digital Purchases: Enjoy a 10% discount on EA digital content, including full games, expansions, and in-game purchases. Full EA Play details can be found in this article.NHL 26 Trailer - Pros and Cons
I just watched the NHL 26 trailer, it kind of looks like a copy and paste from NHL 25. How ever, my biggest disappointment of the trailer was I saw a clip of the “full pressure” red boards in the trailer which really was dissatisfying to see. I was hoping EA would give us the option to turn the flashing red boards off. When you watch a live hockey game, we don’t see flashing red boards that say “full pressure”. It’s just boards with ads and sponsorships. EA_Aljo, will we be given the option to turn off the flashing red boards of the pressure meter? And can we optionally turn off the one time indicator as well? NHL 25 was too arcade oriented and it backed away from realistic hockey. I speak a lot for us NHL gamers who have given time and money to this series, but ever since NHL 24, the games have been too unrealistic. We deserve better.NHL26 All NEW FACE SCANS NEEDED
Full Face that should be added based on breakout seasons, stats, draft pedigree, contracts, current nhl teams depth charts etc. Full authentic real scans needed Lane Hutson (confirmed from first trailer) Macklin Celebrini Matvei Michkov Will Smith Dustin Wolf Ivan Demidov Mathew Schaefer Wyatt Johnston — should be upgraded from AI to full scan AI-Generated Scan Needed (EA’s system using player likeness with generic hair) Zeev Buium Michael Misa Cutter Gauthier Sam Colangelo Jackson LaCombe Martin Pospisil Jason Dickinson Frank Nazar Alex Vlasic Artyom Levshunov Yegor Chinakhov Dmitri Voronkov Thomas Harley Simon Edvinsson Vasily Podkolzin Matthew Savoie Alex Laferriere Kaiden Guhle Mike Matheson Will Cuylle Will Borgen Fabian Zetterlund Noah Cates Pius Suter Matias Maccelli Filip Chytil Nils Hoglander Connor McMichael Aliaksei Protas Ryan Leonard Josh Doan Michael Kesselring Ryan McLeod Jiri Kulich Jack Quinn Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen Connor Geekie Mavrik Bourque Zachary Bolduc Dalibor Dvorsky Jimmy Snuggerud Dylan Holloway Jake Neighbours Philip Broberg Yaroslav Askarov Zayne Parekh Oliver Moore David Reinbacher Rutger McGroarty Denton Mateychuk Alexander Nikishin Fabian Lysell Jackson Blake Gabe Perreault Likely to Have Generic Face Quentin Musty Beckett Sennecke Tij Iginla Sam Dickinson Konsta Helenius Cole Hutson Danill But Dmitri Simashev Berkly Catton Axel Sandin-Pellika etc. rest of 2022-25 drafts likely to have generics if missing from game already
NCAA Players in Franchise
What can we expect for the CHL players that will be playing NCAA this upcoming season? Will they be in franchise mode? Please be transparent about this. It will be much easier to digest with transparency than to open up the game and find out they are not in the game. Thanks
Franchise
I did not see much if any changes or improvements to Franchise mode. I am glad that be a pro is getting an update but where is the love for Franchise mode. I want it to be more customizable like it is with HLM 25. Give us the ability to create and edit draft classes, full editing of players at any time, force trades, force signings, no staff salary cap limits, no player cap limit, force wins, no need for scouting where you already know everything about every player without scouting them. A lot of these options are already in Madden, college football, and FC plus NBA 2k25 so why not NHL. I want to play NHL 26 any way that I want to no matter how unrealistic that it is. Let us play our way as it is an offline more where it dows not affect anyone else. Please improve Francise mode.
