NHL 25 to launch in early October & feature Hughes brothers on covers

The new NHL 25 game has been confirmed by EA Sports, a title that will feature Quinn, Luke, and Jack Hughes prominently.

On August 22, EA Sports officially unveiled release information regarding NHL 25. It’s important to state officially, as the release trailer leaked out on social media several days before.

Last year’s NHL game saw numerous additions, including a new pressure system. However, issues with that created a tough-to-navigate experience, which EA ultimately tweaked.

This year, EA will continue to tweak the franchise, as for NHL 25, new gameplay features are among the highlighted changes.

The special edition cover of NHL 25 will feature the three Hughes brothers: Quinn, Luke, and Jack. Quinn, the 2024 Norris Trophy winner, will be the cover athlete on the standard edition in Canada and for the rest of the world outside of the U.S. Jack, meanwhile, will be the U.S. cover athlete for the standard edition.

It marks the second time in three years EA has featured multiple athletes on the cover. Two years ago, Sarah Nurse and Trevor Zegras were on the cover of all NHL 23 editions.

On the gameplay side of things. the NHL team touted new “next-gen” Vision Control, which will allow players to stay engaged with the net all while moving and staying focused on the puck. The EA Sports NHL team showcased early gameplay footage, which included Mohawk turns and transitioning between holding and shooting the puck in singular, fluid motions.

Vision Control, per the development team, will allow hockey fans to do things not possible in NHL 24. Among those options including walking the lines without having to pivot.

As far as AI is concerned, EA stated it re-worked it to ensure non-controlled players move into the correct lanes.

Features-wise, NHL 25 will feature a new Franchise Mode hub, a new Wild Card mode in Hockey Ultimate Team, along with a new progression system. Additionally, there will also be a “Grudge Match” system that tracks matchup history across online and offline modes.

NHL 25 will be released worldwide on October 4, 2024, the earliest the game’s released since 2019. Early access will begin seven days earlier on September 27. Additionally, EA release the game for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, continuing a trend of moving away from old-gen consoles.