The NHL 26 Gameplay Deep Dive Trailer is now live. Check it out below! A blog is also available with more details on how community feedback was used in NHL 26. NHL 26 Gameplay Deep Dive Blog

Almost exclusively a WOC player here, so the new real-life player tendencies don't do much for me. But I can see how franchise, HUT, etc players could be excited. I am curious about something though. The trailer pitches tendencies as if they're modelled after and unique to particular players but then mentions that there's currently only 22 tendencies. Does that mean there's only 22 players with their own tendencies or are the same tendencies applied to multiple players?The new graphic overlays could be interesting. I'll have to see them in action.I did have a chuckle watching the Bouchard goal. Yeah, the goalie might be surprised by the speed of his shot when his own player plants himself right in the goalie's face.Crosby scored on that backhand. Not a great look. As a once-in-a-season goal, sure. But if that's the kind of shot that "Beauty Backhander" will allow people to score on a regular basis? Oof. I'm not a big fan of X-Factors in general. Hopefully with this refactoring of the system the developers will at least keep an eye on things and be willing to tune them as necessary. As for the "crease control system".... I really, really want to believe. But I'm going to need to see it in action. AI goalies in WOC have been in a rough place for a few years now. They were a bit better in NHL 25, but still not up to par. Please don't let us down.

This will be the first time in decades, maybe since NHL Hockey, that I’m skipping the new release. Not that I am looking for validation, just stating facts. The reasons are simple. Core issues remain unaddressed, transparency is non-existent, and the “deep dive” gameplay video was underwhelming to the point of being more like filler than an actual deep dive. Five to ten minutes is not a deep dive, and what we got barely scratched the surface.Where’s the real look at how IceQ 2.0 interacts with NHL Edge? For that matter what is IceQ 2.0, beyond vague marketing talk? The feature is being positioned as a major advancement, but EA hasn’t actually explained it in concrete terms. Where are the side-by-side comparisons between last year and this year so we can see measurable differences? Instead, we get vague promises and pre-orders pushed before showing meaningful substance. How many years have we heard about some kind of advanced AI?Beyond finally touching LT and hip checks, things that potentially could have been patched long ago, there’s little evidence of any real response to community requests. What’s been done about trolling, quitters, or matchmaking problems? Where are the fixes for menus and persistent bugs that have carried over year after year? We’re a month from release and EA is still slow dripping information as if hype alone is enough to close sales.What in the current reveal cycle would convince you to buy this over last year’s version, other than the fact there’s no competition? The hype window has been non-existent for six months. Another poster recently suggested a live-service model instead of yearly “new” releases, and I agree. The yearly cycle is outdated and guarantees limited, incremental updates at best.There absolutely should be a public roadmap, no dates needed, with statuses like “Investigating,” “In Progress,” or “Fixed,” especially for known bugs. The ongoing communication gap between the NHL team and its players is the real problem, and it’s been there for years. We’ve heard “things will get better,” but they haven’t. We’ve heard about how developer morale suffers when feedback is harsh, but that’s a symptom of ignored frustration, not the cause.I don’t know how EA plans to turn this around. I don’t know the NHL franchise’s exact financials, but from where I sit which is anecdotal, the trend isn’t good. My entire group has already walked away from NHL 25, and none of us plan to buy 26 at launch. Maybe I’ll pick it up when it’s half off, maybe not. At this point, burnout has set in, and the trust is gone.

You 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.

EA_Aljo 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.

NHL 26 Gameplay Deep Dive Trailer and Blog

45 Replies

admiral745
New Ace
2 months ago
Exactly what I said a day or so back, and what many have said over the past few years. In any business community relations/PR are what makes or breaks a company. Poor PR is a business destroyer.
EA_Aljo
Community Manager
2 months ago
Hello. I agree it would be great to see dev team interact more. I truly hope that happens someday.

I understand why the devs want to avoid opening themselves up to the community, I do. It's just an incredibly frustrating thing to see new features being added to the game while the core experience suffers.

Changes are made every year based on community feedback. We also announced a few of these in the gameplay blog. Of course, not every request is actioned. Menus have been one of the bigger ones so hopefully, we'll see an improvement with them.

Appreciate the feedback. Thanks!
Jacob995511
New Novice
2 months ago
Is that next week ?
BigTimeTimJim
New Hotshot
2 months ago
admiral745
EA_Aljo
Community Manager
2 months ago
We haven't released a schedule for deep dives. I'll post it here if we do.

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NHL 26 Gameplay Deep Dive Trailer and Blog

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