Recent Discussions
The Future of NHL — A Living, Constantly Evolving Hockey Experience
I think it’s time for the NHL series to move beyond the “annual release with small tweaks” approach and become a true living hockey experience that grows all year. Right now, the game mainly caters to the same loyal crowd every season. But if EA made an NHL game that was so exceptional that it kept those fans and pulled in new players who don’t even normally play sports games, it could become one of the most respected sports titles in the industry. Hockey is one of the fastest growing sports in the USA and with recent expansion in non traditional hockey markets drawing in more non sports watching fans then most sports, EA should and could capitalize. With today’s technology — especially openAI — there’s no reason this series couldn’t be the most authentic and immersive hockey game ever made. Continuous Live Updates Instead of drip-feeding features year after year, build the best version possible now and update it all season. Move to a subscription-based model so the game keeps evolving without needing to buy a new copy every September. Weekly roster updates, evolving new animations, improved AI, and presentation tweaks rolled out year-round. Maintaining Yearly hype and bigger roll outs focused in August- September to maintain Buzz working with league NHL and NHLPA who like the yearly attention and marketing the game provides. AI-Driven Player Realism & Complete Face Scans Every player at every level — NHL, AHL, CHL, national teams, and all notable prospects(perhaps an agreement with NCAA College Hockey) — scanned player face likeness's authentic up to date and updated in-game regularly. Automatically generate accurate skating stride, posture, shot release, and puck-handling animations for every player using real-world tracking and broadcast footage. No more manually editing skating styles — every player moves and plays like their real-life counterpart from day one. Updates dynamically during the season as players evolve their style. Extend to goalies with realistic stance, movement patterns, and save selections tied to actual NHL data. New and authentic commentary featuring different teams or even real, Nhl authentic broadcast teams with intermission, report, player, interviews, etc. Ability to give fans true customization with players body types equipment looks and sizes etc. to make the players look true to their style. Baggier pants(Tkachuk) , tighter or looser/bigger or smaller shin pads bigger helmets/heads or smaller etc. also the ability to customize not only their facial hair leanght but hair styles and length as well. On-Ice Authenticity Realistic skating & physics tuned with player tracking and advanced motion matching.(already in motion but with yearly open AI assistance this could accelerate rapidly) Smarter AI that adapts to your tactics and real NHL systems. True-to-life puck pickups, physical battles, and special teams play. Off-Ice Immersion & Storylines Dynamic season narratives shaped by trades, injuries, rivalries, and playoff races. Cinematic cutscenes for locker rooms, press conferences, draft day, award shows, and celebrations. Behind-the-scenes content like training camps, player charity events, and contract negotiations. Social media & fan reaction systems that respond to your season’s successes and controversies. Franchise mode team practices drills and coaching feedback in season with practice jerseys and even storylines within the fabric of the team. Chemistry actually mattering and likability within the culture of the team. Adaptive Presentation Commentary that reacts to what’s actually happening — win streaks, rookie debuts, milestone goals, playoff scenarios. Historic callouts when records are about to be broken not just when it happens but during pregame commentary. Authentic crowd and arena behavior tied to in-game moments, from chants to momentum swings. Expanded Game Modes & Events World Juniors, World Cup of Hockey, and Olympic hockey for national teams. Outdoor games like the Winter Classic and Stadium Series with unique visuals and ice conditions. Integration of leagues like the PWHL alongside NHL, AHL, CHL, and international tournaments. Fan-Requested Additions Pre-game cinematic intros, reactive crowds, in franchise attendance lower or higher based of performance and enhanced broadcast camera work. Smarter AI teammates with organic passing and positioning. Dynamic fighting engine with emotional context and momentum swings. Signature player celebrations and idle animations. Legends/Era mode with historic teams and players. Skills competitions integrated into All-Star and career modes. Return of GM Connected — play a live, up-to-date Franchise mode reflecting the real NHL day-to-day. PC Release — bring the series back to PC with full crossplay support, opening the game to an untapped market, increasing HUT revenue, and enabling a thriving online and customization/modding community. Why This Model Works Higher value = more loyalty = More money for EA — If the game was truly exceptional, players would gladly pay a higher initial price and stay subscribed monthly or annually and maybe even pay a higher price again with the bigger rolls outs before the NHL seasons starts. We all Keep our other entertainment apps even if we don't use them at times because they have value and we know we will. Something with true value is worth paying extra and sustaining. Steady revenue from subscriptions + existing HUT income reshapes and improves EA revenue exceeding their current trend. Constant engagement through seasonal content drops, commentary updates, and ongoing fixes gives the fans what we have been asking for year after year. Room to grow into more leagues, events, and innovations without being locked to a yearly reset cycle.(while still working with the NHL and NHLPA to create marketing and Buzz about the game every year in September with yearly big changes still as we get closer to the start of the real season perhaps no updates from end of season June-September then bam a new drop and maybe a new charge once again if value is there and it's an exceptional game fans will pay. NHL could lead the sports gaming world with this model instead of waiting for competition to force change. If the game was truly next-level and constantly evolving, I think most of us would gladly keep paying to play it year after year. this is how much more potential revenue this model could make EA while also providing the best consumer fan experience to date. What do you all think, would you support a “living” NHL that delivers every league, event, and authentic detail possible, both on and off the ice?NHL26 All NEW FACE SCANS NEEDED
Full List or all Face Scans that need 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 (confirmed from Gameplay Deep Dive) 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 alreadyNHL 26 Suggestions
Do you know if they added any of the users recommendations from the forums last year? Just a few ideas I suggested were asking to add suspensions for charging hit ect. Maybe have teams countering a trade proposal/ 3 way trades etc in franchise mode. I'd like to see if it possible to have user tracked stats? I play franchise with my family and would like to know if you could keep track of stats of individual users. Maybe make the franchise co-op an online thing so friends/ family members can connect online and play their franchise season together online. Can you possibly make the crowd more authentic (such as home fans not jumping up and clapping when the away team scores? (That really takes away from the realistic feel) Maybe some nick name chants when a goalie makes a great save, players' names chanted when they win a fight, MVP chants for star player who may possibly be in play to collect the MVP, or mocking chants to opposing players. With hat tricks I see lots of hats of different colors but none of the team that actually scored, Also, maybe allowing the user to change who takes the face off (maybe they get kicked out of the faceoff circle) or pre faceoff adjustments/ set ups maybe like something they do with NCCA Football or Madden preplay. I'd like to see possible line brawls but make it a rare occurrence playoff rivals after an injury ect. I like the idea of what they are trying to do with NCAA with a fatigue system maybe they could do something like that in NHL 26 as well. If a player is involved in a fight or multiple fights maybe a black eye fat lip would be present. Maybe change the icon used to indicate player being controlled by the player. NHL25 seemed to have gotten away from an indicator for players/ users off screen locations can we go back to how it was it NHL23 at the minimum? Can you tone down how often the goalie goes into full sprawl mode it happens way to often and weak shots lead to fat rebound opportunities. Maybe add the goalie losing a stick in a scramble or breaking on heavy shot. Lastly, I don't know what u did to the flip the puck out option, but it clearly doesn't go higher then 6 feet because every player is able to jump and catch the puck to keep it in the defensive zone. Just some ideas to help the process I look forward to seeing what else you can incorporate in the game to make it more realistic.Some kind of consoleID in the API.
It would be a really good benefit to your most hardcore community to provide some kind of identifier in the API that links a user to a console. Even taking the consoleID and encrypting it into a different identifier would easily work. This would help leagues like LG be able to just run reports on users to see which accounts match the same console which really would prevent most cheating going on. It would get rid of guys sharing accounts as well as people making additional accounts. Just seems too easy of a bone to throw at us to not implement. Help us out.Most games have updates during the year, but ea just releases an update
Most games we play get gameplay updates every few months. EA decides that they just release a new game every year at an expensive price for their updates. All their recent NHL games are a simple gameplay update that could be done within the same year they released it and everything just feels like a roster update. Dissapointed isn't even the word to use in this regard. They offer a minor tweak and charge us an arm and a leg for it. So many things should and could be done but EA does not listen to it's audience or they are lazy and take the easy way out knowing loyals fans will buy NHL even if they are dissapointed. This is unacceptable. If it's a new game, let it be a new game and not just an update.NHL 26 Gameplay - Impressions and Negatives
First of all, Hats off to the EA Team on their hard work and dedication to NHL 26, it really seems they put a lot of effort into developing NHL 26. The things that impressed me the most of the Gameplay deep dive was how realistic the players overalls are. For example, in NHL 25 there wasn’t a realistic visual of how highly skilled a certain NHL player is. In the deep dive, it showed how McDavid’s speed was portrayed in the game and it looks very realistic because we’ve all seen him burn someone on the outside with his speed. I also liked how the X Factors came into play such as Bouchard’s slap shot pinging one top shelf. So far, looks good on my end. The negative aspect of the gameplay trailer was very small and simple for me. I really, really wish we could make the “Full Pressure” red boards optional. Since we have passing indicators, one time indicators, pressure meter circle all optional, why can’t we make the “Full Pressure” red boards an option? We have been asking this to be optional since NHL 24 and we all hope it is optional in NHL 26. Other than that, great job EA! This game looks like it was well worked through and let’s hope for a good season!
NHL Franchise mode This needed to be fixed
33 EXPANSION need to start one year later so so we don't have double draft, then the draft picks will be different too, not always (like this year) Sharks/Ducks and black hawks 1-3 almost every time. then we automatically get new players every time we start a new expansion. Let's find and hire coaches and scouts in the meantime, fix the arena Animated images of players without real photos, you get totally confused further into the game when you don't recognize anyone, it becomes boring and impersonal We can't fire an AHL head coach and then have another one as an interim head coach. Assistant Coach and Senior Assistant Coach are the same for the NHL team so you have to hire one and then place him as an assistant coach before you hire the other. Interview with a coach before hiring crashes the whole game When we hire scouts, we should be able to choose where they will work right away instead of realizing halfway into the season that all NHL scouts are in Central, for example. And when we have hired 15-20 scouts, we have to sit and accept them one by one... not the same with players where you can quickly click past them. Fix the deadline so it's not so extremely useless and sends you to player one in the list every single time you browse to see if there's anything interesting, or throws you out of the trade when you try to make a trade because some team comes up with proposals. Taxes for expansion teams??? Give us a list or something When we are in the seasonal menu or whatever you should call it, it would be extremely nice to be able to jump in to your line to change instead of having to back out. In the season menu (where you see all upcoming games), the AHL logo is in the way of the results. I use to turn off auto backskate to play defense in WOC but in franchise mode the player still going backwards automatically. Why have you changed it so that you can't change players like before? Now when you finally get it to change to the right player, it's too late…extremely frustrating Remove Alumni behind all old teams and fix their arenas and public so we can use them in 33 expansion without it looking stupid.(Nordiques/Whalers/North Stars) WOC get a lot of cool goalie masks, why can’t we have them in franchise mode too??? WOC always has new jerseys with cool logos but we're stuck with hamburger and hot dog logos. PLEASE LET US EDIT THE HEIGHT/WEIGHT AND AGE OF EXISTING PLAYERS!!Added features that aren’t added
So there’s no chl seasons for be a pro , no contract negotiations for be a pro.. For franchise mode we still don’t have the option of pto contracts for pre season, the choice to send players to the eashl so they don’t sit in the ahl…. Black silhouettes for players …. No full presentation which was in nhl in the early 2000’s. So over this gameEASHL (World of CHEL) Questions
From the trailer, it looks like all athletes within HUT are getting a significant update when it comes to their AI and their attributes (X-Factors). Will these same AI enhancements be integrated to non-NHL players (e.g, Isaiah Williams, Amar Gill, etc…)? The AI in EASHL needs improvement. Giving the players the ability to either assign NHL player EDGE data to our AI teammates or giving us any more freedom on how we want the AI to play/position themselves would be amazing. There was no news about EASHL in the gameplay deep dive, so I’m hoping some light can be shed on that topic here :)What do people think about this happening?
So, I’ve not ever had 2 separate accounts and won’t until September as my brother is gonna get one this year. Is it possible to make absolutely unfair trades in HUT? With one account I’ve noticed you can make and offer on an auction house screen to another user. Is trading like that considered a breach of contract or say an unwritten rule amongst players not to do or is that something I just haven’t don’t. As a reminder 26’ will be my first full season playing HUT and I was curious if that was considered a faux pas kinda thing. appreciate anyone letting me know. cheersEA NHL 26 FRANCHISE MODE NEED…
33 expansion should start a year later, allowing us to find and hire coaches and scouts, and then we would always have had new players when we start the expansion. If we could replace the AHL team when we start expansion, we could have created ready-made AHL teams for our expansion teams. I tend to change teams every now and then, and then I don't have to redo the entire AHL team Animated profile picture for players without a picture... incredibly confusing in 2035 when you don't recognize any players on the team... becomes impersonal and boring Let us change the height/weight and age of players when editing existing players. PLEASE!!!! remove alumni behind old teams like Nordiques, Whalers and North Stars so we can use them in Expansion without them looking stupid (also fix their arenas and audiences) Hope we can get some new team logos and goalie masks without other teams' logos on them. A little tired of hamburger and hot dog logos… Give us some cool onesEa killed nhl
@ea support y did u kill hut as well as almost every game mode beside be a pro u keep giving us useless upgrades that just break the game and update 1 or 2 game modes per year like be a pro needed a upgrade for 8 years and finally your giving it to us. Ykw I didn't want to do thus but I'm joining the group of people quiting nhl cause clearly u just see us as cash and don't care what we think thank you but no thank u first time in 8 years I won't buy my favorite sport Thanks to ea.
