Players Matter Most to NHL 25 Creative Director Mike Inglehart

As hockey season begins to gain steam, many fans are already leading their team to the Stanley Cup in NHL 25. For those that love the full GM experience, this has been an important release with a full revamp giving Franchise Mode new life.

Putting together an annual like the EA Sports NHL series has unique challenges, but the team at EA Vancouver is always looking for ways to make each installment is better than the last. When I had the opportunity to speak with NHL 25 Creative Director Mike Inglehart, we discussed some of this year's biggest changes and what could be in store for the future.

ICE-Q Meets Sustained Pressure

Nothing makes a more significant impact than gameplay, and that was a core focus as NHL 25 introduced a new logic-driven gameplay system known as ICE-Q. Last year, NHL 24 had its own gameplay shake-up with the introduction of Sustained Pressure. The two go hand-in-hand, as Inglehart explained.

“With the Ice-Q features, we had to look at Sustained Pressure and figure out, ‘okay, how is this going to complement everything else that’s there?’ When you make substantial changes to gameplay, you’ve gotta look at those other subsystems that feed into it,” he said. “Pressure, over the course of last year, it was a big change to the gameplay. It was probably a bit too gratuitous at the beginning, and through interacting with the community we dialed it down. When we were going through development this year, we know people don’t wanna get that detrimental feel. [If we] take the power away on the sticks, the defensive side was feeling that they were paralyzed."

With the benefits of both a full year of community feedback and a series of adjustments with post-launch updates for NHL 24, it was time to find the sweet spot for Sustained Pressure in NHL 25.

“We did some retuning to the pressure system based on the pace of the game being a bit slower so the pressure can still play into the gameplay. We focused on something that we felt is more balanced," Inglehart said. "When pressure activates, the attacking team just gets a stamina boost. So, they can essentially move their legs a bit quicker for a longer period of time. If your line was a bit gassed out, they get that second wind allowing them to keep the pressure on. The defensive team, whatever situation they’re in, we’re not attacking them with anything. It’s more of a positive for the attacking side, and we feel it’s at a place now where it still helps to create that connection to the real sport, those really long sustained offensive shifts, but it’s not hurting anyone in the experience [and is] just creating opportunity for that attacking team.”

Benefits of Moving On From PS4 & Xbox One

NHL 25 took a big step forward for the franchise with their first use of EA Sports' Sapien Technology to upgrade player models and multiple aspects of presentation. Much of that would not have been possible without finally making the game exclusive to next gen, or more accurately current gen at this point, as it only released on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S this year. Creative Director Mike Inglehart outlined the benefits that change has had and will continue to have in the future.

“The benefit, you saw it in this year’s game, is the ability to focus on visual packages that are dedicated to a single platform," he continued. "We’ve done our biggest impact in terms of new likeness for player heads in the game. We were able to use Sapien and create true skeletons that are representative of both the men’s and women’s games. Our cloth technology, so the jerseys actually now sit on top of the players. Sweat, snow accumulation on the actual pads, and things like that.” 

“Having one platform to focus on, it limits things like needing to test both platforms because the platforms are different," Inglehart said. "You’re gonna have different bugs, different challenges, different things that you need to tweak and tune especially from a visual rendering perspective. That just allows us to spend more time putting quality into the game.” 

While we were on the topic of platforms, I couldn't go without asking about one the community has been requesting for years. NHL 25 didn't make a return to PC, but that doesn't mean the team at EA Vancouver isn't hearing the players.

“PC, yeah. I know. Again, it’s been a hotly contested one, and back in my earlier days I used to play on PC as well. We talk constantly about opportunities for the product to come across in different platforms," Inglehart explained. "We’re actively talking about all those things. When that sort of flag gets put in the ground, we’ll be able to talk about it at that time, but people can know right now we’re looking at all these opportunities and trying to determine what’s best for business.” 

Franchise Mode Gets The Spotlight

For dedicated Franchise players, NHL 25 was a massive step forward for a game mode that was overdue for a refresh. From the entire menu layout to the minutia of contract negotations, Inglehart talked about finally getting to give Franchise Mode the love it needed in NHL 25.

“We were just waiting for the right time to attack it. There’s a lot of things to balance every year within the product. This year felt like the right time to go after it, and the reception so far has been great,” he said. “We’re happy that we’re able to get a lot of the components that are in line with the real NHL, things like the No Movement Clause, the No Trade Clause. Cleaning up a lot of the screen flows, having everything a little bit more at your fingertips. Contract negotiations was something we had a lot of fun with during development, the idea of really living out that GM experience." 

"In the past, it’s been easy to ink the player that you want to your team. Now, even RFAs as an example, signing a restricted free agent and how does that negotiation then impact signing an impending unrestricted free agent. Myself being a Sabers fan, playing throughout production then losing a guy like Tage Thompson because I choose to lowball him for too long," Inglehart explained. "Those choices, those avenues that you go down can play a part in how your team looks going forward. It really starts to fulfill that fantasy, so we’re happy that it’s got the reception that’s there. Like all of our game modes, we’ll continue to look at opportunities in the future that’ll continue to give it more life as time presses on." 

Could NHL 25 get its own Team Builder?

One big aspect of Franchise for many players is the ability to create a fully custom team, and that's an area where other EA Sports titles have taken their own strides this year. College Football 25 introduced Team Builder, an online tool to upload your own logos and customize each detail of your team, and it later got a Madden 25 equivalent. When we spoke, Inglehart discussed the possibility the NHL series doing the same in the future.

“I’ve been playing [College Football 25] a lot, and I think that tool itself has been a great stride forward. Obviously, it’s under our same roof so it’s something that we’re chatting with that team about. I know, within Hockey Ultimate Team, there’s also been a lot of players asking for the ability to create a similar kind of brand the way that you can in EASHL Clubs," he said. "So again, I think customization from a player perspective or user generated content we know is something that’s not going anywhere. We don’t have plans today to bring in say what College Football has, but we’re aware.” 

“Since I’ve been here, we’ve been trying to really stay as connected as much as possible to the community," Inglehart continued. "Players matter to me more than anything else in the world because it’s what makes the game go round. It’s just a balance of trying to figure out when is the right time to do everything relative to the opportunities that exist within the game. But we wanna be able to bring that customization to HUT, and again World of Chel and the EASHL Clubs there’s opportunity there. That’s another where where, yes you can create your own brand, but we definitely can go further as we push forward into the future.” 

Be A Pro & Fan Feedback

As our conversation wrapped up, my own love for career mode in every sports game meant I had to ask about Be A Pro. While the experience isn't bad in NHL 25, Be A Pro has gotten stagnant without any significant upgrades in the last few years. Fans haven't exactly been quiet about it, but those cries are being heard by Creative Director Mike Inglehart and the entire team at EA Vancouver. 

“NHL’s a big game. We actually have quite a number of large game modes within the product. What’s great about that is we have players that engage in [what is] kind of like a hockey amusement park in a way. Everyone’s got their favorite rollercoaster that they want to ride on," he said. “I think it’s still our job, even inside that small box [of development time each year]. Chris, who’s our Senior Producer, him and I work closely together with our core leadership. We just try to find ways to, even though the box is small, unlock more time. What can we do that’s different to continue to add more quality? So, just because that’s a challenge doesn’t mean that we can’t overcome it."

“Be A Pro obviously is one [of those game modes], much like Franchise before this year. I think now we’ve put [Franchise Mode] into a spot where players that like to go in and focus on that mode, there’s a lot of new there, a lot of freshness, and I think they’re taken care of," Inglehart continued. "For Be A Pro, we 100% hear the feedback that’s out there. It’s fair to say. I think a lot of people are tired of the overpriced pond hockey, you see that pop up a lot in terms of the intro cinematic that’s there standing at the cabin. What I can say for now is, like with the love and attention that we gave Franchise Mode this year, we’re well aware of the opportunity with Be A Pro. It’s something that we have within our crosshairs to take care of.” 

Finally, Inglehart wanted to stress one last time how helpful the community has been for NHL 25 and this entire series. It can be easy for fans to feel like their concerns aren't being heard, but that exact feedback has become key to making sure each release is moving in the right direction.

“For the players and community out there, any and all constructive feedback is great. Again, this product is for the players. I think it’s important for people to know that myself, and the team that I work with, we massively care about the community. We’d love to be able to do everything that everybody wants every single year, but the more feedback we get the better," he said. "The last couple of years, we’ve really tried to put more meat on the bone and make sure the product is changing from year to year for the better. The hope is to create the most authentic representation of hockey on the sticks so that, when you’re watching the game or playing it on your couch, you’re getting that experience that you’re looking for.”