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

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.

And on top of just this one the marketing for the game needs to be better and not so secretive. Like what is the big issue telling us for the rest of the month when the next information will be coming. Gives us something to look forward to as well not just waiting in the dark hoping for more info. EA_Aljo

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.

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.

NHL 26 Gameplay Deep Dive Trailer and Blog

38 Replies

Destroyer95
Rising Hotshot
3 days ago
Yikes.
p5atrbqm58kn
Rising Novice
3 days ago
Where is the fixes for presentation, pls tell me they brought back full presentation like we uses too have , and I mean like it was back in nhl 21 or 22 not 23 onwards
SamuraiKnight27
Rising Rookie
3 days ago
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.
PlayoffError
Hero
3 days ago
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.
Butcher7o5
Rising Rookie
3 days ago
I'm so over EA and everything they stand for.
It's all about making money, not good games. NHL has been garbage for like 10 years now. Skate. Is shaping up to be another money grab. They ask over ane over again what consumers want, we tell them, they completely ignor it.
It's just a matter of time before they close down more studios and say "We aren't sure what happened"
EA_Aljo
Community Manager
3 days ago
This trailer was specifically about gameplay so there wasn't much about presentation in it. We'll have to wait to see if more news on presentation comes out.
EA_Aljo
Community Manager
3 days ago
What 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.
sha2un98
Rising Rookie
3 days ago
Would have been lovely to have had improved menus mentioned... If those are even a thing. Will it be?
thebrazenhead75
Rising Hotshot
3 days ago
Heh. I wasn’t expecting much anyway. I just want our human controlled goalies to stop being forced into ridiculous animations and flopping like fish out of water. Also the 1-2 goals almost every game I let up through no fault of my own or my teammates. I call them the EA BS goals. The majority of us hardcore WOC players know when they happen. Playing goalie this year has been horrendous and that’s why so many have quit playing it and others refusing to play with human goalies.
I’ll buy the game anyways just to play WOC with friends but definitely not pre ordering it this year. Paying an extra $40 only just to be able to play WOC 7 days earlier is not worth it. As a WOC only player there just isn’t any other incentive to do so.
KlariskraysNHL
Hero
3 days ago
For more detailed information on things like LT-ing, Hipchecks, + more check out the blog in EA_Aljo post