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, contract out the best dedicated developers to work with your current and give them the budget and team to build the best version possible now and update it all season with the assistance of ai to maintain. Might require an initial higher budget but lower budget to maintain. Move to a subscription-based model so the game keeps evolving without needing to buy a new copy every September. Instead the game is so good you just pay your yearly subscription to be able to play for another year. Etc. Weekly roster updates, evolving new animations, improved AI, and presentation tweaks rolled out year-round pausing only from July-August with big drop in September. Maintaining Yearly hype and bigger roll outs focused in August and September to maintain Buzz working with the NHL and NHLPA who like the yearly attention and marketing the game provides for the league. 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, and EA allowed the creative passionate developers who want to make the game as great as possible to fully do their job and change their business model players would gladly pay a higher initial price and stay subscribed annually. 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 continue to use them. 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 August and September with yearly big changes still as we get closer to the start of the real season perhaps no updates from end of season July-September then bam a new drop to insure you will keep your subscription. 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, please let me know?
World Of Chel Hot Take: Skating Attributes
Hot take: skating attributes should be inversely related: acceleration and agility, speed and balance, strength and endurance If accel increases agility decreases, if balance increases speed decreases, Etc. Since the introduction of x-factors in NHL 22 player build metas have consistently been about being as fast and agile as possible, making no room for strong slow skaters. I think a system like this can help add variety to the type of competitive builds we see in WOC. Let me know what you all think.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.EASHL (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 :)
Imagine if they manage to make NHL 26 worse than NHL 25
NHL 25 is probably the worst thing EA has released, 19/20/21/22/23/24 had their faults and flaws but they were playable. The menus are full of syrup… 🤮🤮 Ice-Q termin”AI”tor, so incredibly boring game play!!!!! You can’t switch player like before, and once you manage to switch to the player you want to be, it's too late and the idiot AI player is just going the wrong way or something else In all my years playing the NHL, I have NEVER played this many overtime games together as I have with this game. Every single match ends the same, you have to work like crazy for 2 goals in 25-30 shots then the AI scores two rubbish goals when there is less than a minute left.... 30-7 in shots VERY FUN GAME I have to say you're doing a great job if you manage to make NHL 26 worse.
WoC skip replays / intermission WASTE OF TIME
We don't need to see the same replay 3 times in a row in slow motion for 2 minutes. Then another 30 seconds. Make it a voting system, the majority of people skipping the replays and intermission. I just want to play the game. I don't want to wait because little Jimmy wants to take another bong hit and get cheeto dust on his controller. I think we can all agree seeing one timers, cross creasers, and big hits for the 73727737 time is pointless.Suggestion for “Flex” moments after goals
I was not a fan of this once it came to the game but it still hasn’t grown on me. The player scores, skates away and celebrates as the teammates skate awkwardly behind in camera view with no emotion. The main annoyance for me is that the signature celly for each player has to be done using the flex camera. I’ve had it where it’s glitched and has happened on the normal camera view and I’ve preferred it so much more. I’d like to see a change (it seems minor from the way I envision it) to add a toggle to the celebration selection screen where you can toggle the flex camera on and off for your signature celebration. It just makes scoring goals more satisfying and less jarring for some people. That way the longer term buyers who dislike the flex camera, and the newer generation who like it can both have their way here.Ea 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.
