Community ManagerYou gotta fire your marketing director as they failed big time. Little to no info on a release schedule, these deep dives tell almost no info at all. The marketing for this is making more and more people not want to pre-order the game.
Community ManagerWhat else were you hoping to hear about in a gameplay deep dive? Obviously, the big addition in this trailer is how EDGE data is being used to affect player attributes. Goalies were detailed as well since they are getting big updates. X-Factors of course aren't new, but how they're used now is. So, I wouldn't say there's almost no new info. These are big changes to the gameplay that you won't really notice until you're actually playing the game.
Would have been lovely to have had improved menus mentioned... If those are even a thing. Will it be?
When talking about gameplay we expect to see how the menus look and work. Any new presentation information like tunnel run outs and new camera angles. A deep dive you expect it to be well deep not just a few min like at littlest around 10 min explaining all new gameplay.
Community ManagerMenus and presentation aren't part of gameplay so they wouldn't be included in a trailer about gameplay. Hopefully, we'll have some news on presentation and menus as we get closer to release.
A "deep dive" should be far longer than five minutes. This was a "brief overview".
A "deep dive" would have explained:
Does EDGE data only affect NHL players, or all players on the roster? Does it change the way generated prospects in FM attributes are created, or will they still have crazy, unrealistic combinations of attributes?
What are all the new and returning X-Factors and how specifically do they affect on-ice play?
Do tendencies have any affect on human-controlled players? Or just AI controlled? Can we change tendencies in the roster editor? Can we set tendencies on created players?
LT/Vision Control change -- I'm glad to hear this was changed, but the video should have demonstrated how NHL 26 differs from NHL 25 in this respect.
Hip Check tuning -- again, I'm glad to see this was changed, but where's the video showing how it's different?
There's a section the blog post labeled "Puck Skills". It says toe drags can now be done while moving backwards or laterally and that there's a new fake shot animation that you can pass out of. Where's the demonstration of these new moves? How are they done?
Goalies -- I don't play goalie at all, so I don't know what to ask, but I'm sure there are others here who do play goalies that have questions the video did not answer.
Community ManagerThank you. I agree it would have been good to see more details on these. I'll let the team know.
As someone who does understand marketing, its frustrating. Same shallow bits of information every year. This was a "deep dive" for gameplay. Great, this should have come out a month ago. And A deep dive is not a few minutes long, it shows gameplay, speaks with the devs of the game in interviews. They answer questions from fans/gamers, talk about the video of gameplay and then speak more in depth on it. This is is how it works with any successful franchise game out there. I get its a sports game, so its a bit different, but the strategy is the same. Convince people to buy the game by showing them why they should. Build hype, get gamers/streamers involved in the process. Take a page from games by Frontier, they know how to market with all of their titles. Colossus was the same before Cities Skylines 2 went down the toilet. Paradox, another company that knows how to build hype, though some of their expansions have been flops. Its about creating a marketing strategy that makes you want to believe that the game or expansion is worth my spending money on. I love hockey, I just want the game to succeed, but with the shallowness of information that they provide before release, its really hard to justify the money, and excitement just isn't there. Create hype. I want to believe that the changes will come, but from past experiences with EA, so far, its not enough. Not when you are releasing a game so similar each year. Listen to your loyal customers.
Community ManagerThat's all fair. I personally would have liked to have seen a trailer more like what you described.
As far as listening to our customers goes, there were community feedback changes highlighted in the blog. We also haven't announced everything yet. As with every year, details come out as we get closer to release.
What if some of the changes didn't happen until recently after? They are still working on the game even a month before. Things change and you don't want to show even less things because you don't want to show unfinished things.
Look at how some games have shown off trailers for games 2 years in the past then when the final product comes out it feels like a downgrade in terms of graphics and other things. It's better to show what the game will all have is what I am getting at.
I get changes happen throughout the year. The problem is in the marketing strategy itself. When very little is shown about the game prior to release, there is 0 hype or excitement. Its why the yearly release model does not work for games anymore. Releasing a new game every four-five years is smarter. You focus your attention on the updates/upgrades, releasing them often. No wasted energy on launching a whole new product (that is pretty much the same, with a few minor tweaks), energy and time goes into improvements. Do videos on those updates. Sell a season's pass for updates and upgrades. That way, there is always a buzz around the game. As a company you are releasing videos at least every month. Devs speaking about the changes, and what to look forward to, addressing fans, both concerns and requests. These days, marketing in the video game industry is all about communication and making sure that your game continues to be talked about. If you barely release any information, it shows a disconnect. A short video every week for a month before launch, that is not a marketing strategy, that is video game destruction. I have a experience with this stuff, I have also been a gamer, streamer, and Youtuber, for a long time. I only gave it up as my health went south, and my focus shifted to enjoying more time with my family. If EA wants a successful product launch and good reviews, they need to fix their marketing, and change with the industry. Video gaming is a fickle industry, you move with it, or get left behind. Its not meant to be completely negative, it just trying to see a game that I loved back from Sega Genesis days through to the present, not continue to falter and lose sales.
Community Manager
