NHL 25, the latest edition of EA Sports Vancouver’s 34-year old ice hockey simulation, will launch Oct. 4, the publisher announced on Thursday. The Hughes Brothers — Quinn and Luke, who play for the New Jersey Devils, and Jack, who plays for the Vancouver Canucks — will grace the cover.
The game, for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, is the third this year from EA Sports to tout a new feature that uses IQ somewhere in its name. Like College Football 25’s “Campus IQ” and the forthcoming EA Sports FC 25’s “FC IQ,” NHL 25’s “Ice-Q” is billed as an overhaul to gameplay systems, starting with an “all-new logic-driven animation system.
“Ice-Q [Ed. note: not a rapper] responds to contextual events on the ice with unprecedented authenticity,” a news release said. It’s billed as a set of features “that give players more control over the action,” plus “a major upgrade to the reliability and accuracy of CPU players,” and animations “that [make] gameplay a more seamless and realistic experience.”
The statement also promised a “serious visual overhaul” to all character models as well as their gear, as well as an overhaul to Franchise mode that starts with a streamlined user interface, with more to share in the coming month.
When it launches, NHL 25 will have a standard version for $69.99, and a deluxe edition that comes with a seven-day early access window, plus extra in-game content used in the Hockey Ultimate Team mode. EA Play subscribers will also get the customary 10-hour trial period, which begins a week before the Oct. 4 launch, too.
Featured images via EA Sports
