The TOP of my NHL 2026 Wishlist!! Will they ever bring this back? I used to play Online Verses and now play Chel with my buddies, but what I would do to have GM Connected back. Fantasy Draft and control teams. It was cited as being removed for being under utilized, but I feel like all game modes are underutilized, as I can wait 3 minutes to connect to anyone.
What is it going to take to bring this back after 10 years? Did anyone else play this in NHL 13/14 ?
Community ManagerHi there. We always have an interest in bringing this mode back. Unfortunately, there's no ETA on if/when that will happen.
Did anyone else play this in NHL 13/14 ?
Hell yea. We even managed 2-3 seasons with a full 30 humans. Sure, we had the odd member who flaked and needed to be replaced, but a dedicated crew for the most part.
The problem is GM Connected was way ahead of its time. It was too ambitious. Did you know that although only up to 30 humans could manage a team, you could play every game as a full 6v6? Humans controlled real NHL players, and they also needed to be aware of line changes. It was a unique multiplayer experience outside of EASHL. That meant you could have up to 180 people involved in a single league as players or a GM. It was a lot of fun but was clearly competing for resources with EASHL.
Thus, getting into the mode and accomplishing a task such as simulating any remaining games took FOREVER. It was incredibly cumbersome and only the most devoted of League Owners would dedicate time every week to the grueling task of simming games that hadn't been played by the deadline.
One of the coolest things was GM Connected had its own iOS app. Stat tracking, trade requests, etc. Again - way ahead of its time.
It laid the groundwork for an amazing GM Connected mode in the future, but it's clear that World of Chel and the money-making HUT took priorities.
My opinion is that the only way we see a mode like this return is if EA finds a way to monetize it and/or integrate it with HUT.
What are you talking about? Madden had a connected franchise in '08. The sole reason Gm connected died was because they were using those 08 servers in NHL 12, which they admitted to using after NHL 14. The load time was incredibly long to advance week to week, and the offseason advance took like an hour+. Madden had a 53-man roster * 32 teams, and 200-400 free agents. So there's no reason for it to have been that slow.
MUT Madden Ultimate Team ruined the NHL series because you're correct in that the NHL team saw they were making a lot more money on pack openings than the game sales. It is what it is, but to say they were ahead of their time is just false. They lag behind so many other franchises. It's a small community that buys the game, and they need to maximize profits. Something like GM connected that only has the ability to make money with a sale of the game has minimal priority. It's that simple..... however, the community calling for it is amazing, similarly to the Madden Connected franchise, they left it alone for so many years and finally are giving the mode some attention because sales dropped. The most effective way to get what we want is to not buy the game, which I've done my part for the last 4 years.
I don't mean this to be a personal thing, but I'm just tired of people asking for World of Chel upgrades. It's not a replacement for GM Connected.... give me my mode back, EA
They need to fully revamp/update/FIX all existing modes before they should even consider adding/readding anything "new"
What are you talking about? Madden had a connected franchise in '08.
I'm sorry, did I say Madden didn't have this?
The sole reason Gm connected died was because they were using those 08 servers in NHL 12, which they admitted to using after NHL 14. The load time was incredibly long to advance week to week, and the offseason advance took like an hour+.
That's exactly what I said lol
Madden had a 53-man roster * 32 teams, and 200-400 free agents. So there's no reason for it to have been that slow.
The reason would be that these are two entirely different development teams who use entirely different infrastructure. Madden is developed in Orlando, while NHL is developed in B.C.
but to say they were ahead of their time is just false
I never said HUT was ahead of its time. I was saying the vision for GM Connected was ahead of its time what with the iOS app and the ability to have full team play. As evidenced by the inability of the underlying infrastructure to keep up, it was clear the mode was too ambitious and ahead of its time.
I'm just tired of people asking for World of Chel upgrades. It's not a replacement for GM Connected.... give me my mode back, EA
I don't think anyone has ever suggested removing World of Chel in favor of GM Connected. However, some kind of integration between the two would be absolutely awesome.
