NHL 15 News Post

More Signs Point to PS4 & Xbox One Versions of NHL 15 to Ship Without EASHL

05:30 PM - August 15, 2014 by Steve_OS

The back of the NHL 15 box continues to add fuel to the fire that EASHL is not going to make an appearance in the final retail release. Rumors have been swirling for the past week or so that both EASHL and GM Connected have not made it into the current-gen versions of NHL 15.

With EASHL already confirmed for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, EA Sports has been quiet on announcing any modes for the newer generation console.

Today, back of the box details were revealed by Costco of all places. While the Xbox 360 version shows online multiplayer for 2-12 players, the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions only show 1-2 players -- which would tend to indicate EASHL has not made the jump onto the new generation.

Keep in mind the NHL team, despite having an extra year, is a much smaller team compared to other sports games produced by EA Sports. It's not unfeasible that even with the extra time the extra work needed for something like EASHL just presented too much of a challenge to the NHL team. If the mode is indeed not in the game, it is likely you will hear news about it next week as EA Sports plans to start announcing NHL 15 game modes next week.

It is also possible that the mode will not be in the game at launch, but could be patched in later. However, at this point we don't have much news on which modes have made it in or out of the game, so it's impossible to confirm or deny anything. Requests for comment from EA have gone unanswered -- which usually isn't a good sign.

Are you buying NHL 15 if either GM Connected or EASHL aren't in the game?

Game: NHL 15Reader Score: 6.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / PS4 / Xbox 360 / Xbox OneVotes for game: 16 - View All

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Member Comments

# 41 Matt_350z @ 08/16/14 11:44 AM

While I honestly feel EASHL became more about who could boost more and score the same couple goals over, and over, and over, and over again- it's utterly ridiculous to remove such a popular feature. I mean, I know this is EA we are talking about, so I am not the least bit surprised.

That being said, EASHL, and online in general have been a lackluster experience for me for about 2-3 iterations of the game now. It's gotten stale and boring.
I'm far more interested in what EA has improved for offline gameplay and presentation in 15. I'm not saying it's right if they have removed a ton of modes. However, I'm at least ok with my purchase if the offline game has been revived. I'm not holding my breath though.

# 42 jyoung @ 08/16/14 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JKSportsGamer1984


	What is EASHL? Sorry I'm new to the series lol.

# 43 Gotmilkman24 @ 08/16/14 11:57 AM

They better include eashl to 15. I just can't imagine EA being so stupid to not include it. Offline is soooooo stale.

# 44 JKSportsGamer1984 @ 08/16/14 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyoung

Thanks for the vid.

# 45 messngretz @ 08/16/14 04:56 PM

For what it's worth - so far, Costco is the only retailer that offer the back cover artwork...Amazon, Target, Gamestop nor Walmart have the back cover shown.

# 46 Rhys1218 @ 08/16/14 05:57 PM

Not a big hockey fan, but I was gonna get this on PS4 purely for this game mode with a few friends. The fifa equivalent is a good laugh, but seeing as it's almost definitely not in the game for some bizarre reason, I think I'll save my money instead.

# 47 Pete1210 @ 08/16/14 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhys1218


	Not a big hockey fan, but I was gonna get this on PS4 purely for this game mode with a few friends.

I was doing the same, only on XB1. If there is no EASHL I will be canceling my preorder.

# 48 messngretz @ 08/16/14 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GStera


	This? This is so clearly, clearly fake it probably shouldn't have been posted... It says Xbox Live and then has all Playstation logos below.. Come on OS.

That image had several version all together, that's why it was confusing-looking.

I put the two XBOX back cover images together, you can see the difference:

# 49 messngretz @ 08/16/14 08:39 PM

Sorry about that, see this:

# 50 Severyn55 @ 08/16/14 10:07 PM

Servus Rammer and Co,
EA Hockey was the beginning of our relationship,bought every game of the EA hockey series since the beginning, every Year i am looking forward to September because of the next release, my half Life Your Product is in my Living room, also i watched the marketing of this game the whole time.
2014 Your PR sucks big time, i know that much of your customers Look angry at your policy right now, and I Tell You they will never fortget.So i still hope NG Hockey has at least the modes we used to have on old Generation, and its just a pr disaster for your Crew.If not your customers will respond their way.
Sorry for my Almosen perfect english, i am a ****ing German
This Psycho Marketing sucks!!
.

# 51 pujolsformvp21 @ 08/16/14 10:10 PM

I see this more as a sales tactic to squeeze out the last possible profits out of last gen. As opposed to it being too hard to implement on current gen or them being "lazy". Seems similar to what NBA 2k has done this year with bringing back crew mode in full (5v5) on last gen only (for those not familiar with nba, crew is similar to eashl and like eashl it had an almost cult following by those who took the mode serious).

This makes the die hard fans buy the last gen version if they want to get their fix, and these ppl will also likely buy the current gen version if they are a big enough fan of the game to be able to play with the best gfx, etc. Allowing them to double dip on those sales. And even if you skip the next gen version because of this and get the last gen, EA still gets your 60 bucks that you would have spent on the current gen version HAD it included the game mode, so in the end they could careless which version you get. $60=$60

Pretty smart business move on their part actually, considering the amount of people who currently own "next gen" systems is in the 10s of millions and last gen is in the 100s of millions. X1/PS4 will sell just fine to casual consumers especially around christmas time when jimmys 50 year old grandma buys it for him without even knowing what features it contains, let alone hardly tell what sport it is other than it was on his christmas list. By next year when nhl 16 comes and they inevitably introduce the mode back as a "new" feature with fancy bells and whistles ALOT more consumers will have the current gen systems. And no matter how mad you are currently about it and want to boycott or not buy based on your "principles" about how they treat you as a customer, when nhl 16 comes and the feature is in, and its back and better then ever and all your mates are playing it and having a blast. You know damn well you are gonna be taking a trip down to best buy for a copy sooner or later!

EA 1 You guys 0.

# 52 Severyn55 @ 08/16/14 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pujolsformvp21


	I see this more as a sales tactic to squeeze out the last possible profits out of last gen. As opposed to it being too hard to implement on current gen or them being "lazy". Seems similar to what NBA 2k has done this year with bringing back crew mode in full (5v5) on last gen only (for those not familiar with nba, crew is similar to eashl and like eashl it had an almost cult following by those who took the mode serious). This makes the die hard fans buy the last gen version if they want to get their fix, and these ppl will also likely buy the current gen version if they are a big enough fan of the game to be able to play with the best gfx, etc. Allowing them to double dip on those sales. And even if you skip the next gen version because of this and get the last gen, EA still gets your 60 bucks that you would have spent on the current gen version HAD it included the game mode, so in the end they could careless which version you get. $60=$60 Pretty smart business move on their part actually, considering the amount of people who currently own "next gen" systems is in the 10s of millions and last gen is in the 100s of millions. X1/PS4 will sell just fine to casual consumers especially around christmas time when jimmys 50 year old grandma buys it for him without even knowing what features it contains, let alone hardly tell what sport it is other than it was on his christmas list. By next year when nhl 16 comes and they inevitably introduce the mode back as a "new" feature with fancy bells and whistles ALOT more consumers will have the current gen systems. And no matter how mad you are currently about it and want to boycott or not buy based on your "principles" about how they treat you as a customer, when nhl 16 comes and the feature is in, and its back and better then ever and all your mates are playing it and having a blast. You know damn well you are gonna be taking a trip down to best buy for a copy sooner or later! EA 1 You guys 0.

If they act like that,I wont spend money in HUT this year.This is a promise,everybody should boycott HUT and any other Pay to Win features.

# 53 SinisterAlex @ 08/16/14 10:32 PM

Found this image in the EA Sports NHL forums in the 100 page EASHL thread.

Looks to be image of the demo menus or something.

# 54 tpblue @ 08/16/14 11:19 PM

What is really concerning is that the NHL franchise has always taken a back burner to easports other games, this whole situation will definitely hurt them in sales and the backlash from diehard fans will also hurt Microsoft in new console sales, EASPORTS NHL 15 may just be the last game in the franchise because of this. I remember when ea partnered with Microsoft they were boasting about how great all the dedicated Microsoft servers and whatnot were going to improve EA's online services. Guess that was just more B.S talk from the worst rated company in North America.

# 55 Gotmilkman24 @ 08/17/14 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SinisterAlex


	Found this image in the EA Sports NHL forums in the 100 page EASHL thread. Looks to be image of the demo menus or something.

Maybe eashl goes where buy nhl 15 is? There has to be more than three options on the menu.

# 56 KNTTWD @ 08/17/14 12:47 AM

The menu finally look nice. If I recall, isn't EASHL/online under "play now." It went play now -> online -> all the online options with community, vs, hut, eashl, etc. I could be wrong

# 57 YoungBuck3 @ 08/17/14 01:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tpblue


	What is really concerning is that the NHL franchise has always taken a back burner to easports other games, this whole situation will definitely hurt them in sales and the backlash from diehard fans will also hurt Microsoft in new console sales, EASPORTS NHL 15 may just be the last game in the franchise because of this. I remember when ea partnered with Microsoft they were boasting about how great all the dedicated Microsoft servers and whatnot were going to improve EA's online services. Guess that was just more B.S talk from the worst rated company in North America.

lol, no. This will not be the last game in the EA NHL franchise.

# 58 spidertour02 @ 08/17/14 01:10 AM

That demo menu isn't really indicative of anything. Previous NHL demos had the same options minus the ability to buy the game outright, if I remember correctly. (Didn't they have some feature where HUT stuff from the demo carried over to the retail game? I never bothered with it.)

# 59 SinisterAlex @ 08/17/14 02:14 AM

Another good post I read on the EA NHL Forum, I'll copy and paste it in quotes along with a link to the page it's on.

This sums up my feelings 100% right now. I'm usually excited for the new NHL demo to come out, but like the post below, all that's on my mind is EASHL.

LINK: http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/li.../10145764.page

Quote:


	My view: Sitting here with 10 days to go before the NHL 15 demo comes out. I am actually not excited in the slightest. Normally I would be for a brand new iteration on the NHL series and I would normally play the crap out of a an NHL Demo. I am stuck here thinking of what my plan is going to be if the next gen game does not include EASHL, now, this is mostly my fault for liking a game mode so much that I completely ignored all of the other ones. When I look at how a game should normally advertise it's usually all done the same way. Release tiny bits of information each week as you draw closer to the release date. EA has a plan in place for when they want information released and they seem to be following that to a "T". I cannot sit here and say that is a terrible strategy when games have successfully used this time and time again, but I feel like EA may have made a marginal error this time around. There is a large portion of players who play NHL religiously, and even play EASHL, OTP and Online 6 v 6 leagues so much that they have forgotten what outside looks like. (Including me) Ever since this small rumor started, I scoffed and laughed it off like it nothing. That rumor has now exploded to the point where massive amounts of players are actually worried. Articles are popping up left and right about the possibility of it not being included in the next gen. A thread.. this thread, has reached over 100+ pages of worried players. Sorry I meant "Consumers". Every single thing released since the rumor began manifesting has flown right over my head.. -New broadcast package? Who cares.. is EASHL or OTP in? -Over head gameplay? Who cares... is EASHL or OTP in? I cannot get excited for these brand new pieces of information as my head is still stuck at EASHL and OTP. This PR plan has failed to hype NHL 15 for me and has instead just made me think of things I should do if it's not in. A simple tweet saying "Don't worry it's in" or "There will be Online team play" would diffuse the situation. Instead EA seems to be content on riding this wave of Negative PR and sticking to their guns on when the information should be released. For me.. I am upset on how they actually just let this grow into something so much bigger than it should have been. If it's not in the game.. Well than there wasn't much EA could do to really prepare for the impact that this would have on some of it's fan base. If it's in the game.. I personally think the way EA handled it's PR campaign on NHL 15 for the new consoles was extremely poor. I am 10 days from the demo and I don't feel excited for it. Maybe it's just me.. but just sitting in the dark on something so simple hasn't hyped me whatsoever.

# 60 ERA @ 08/17/14 02:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gotmilkman24


	Maybe eashl goes where buy nhl 15 is? There has to be more than three options on the menu.

Be a GM/Be a Pro

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