NHL 16 Survey Lists Possible Features

A consumer survey backed by EA Sports has been making the rounds with the goal in mind to gauge what features should be prioritized for NHL 16. Operation Sports posted an image first of the survey over the weekend.

Among the options, of which participants can choose their respective interest levels, are an offline fantasy mode, team creator, World Cup of Hockey, and Owner mode. Four other features relate to Ultimate Team and there are two arcade-style features in Zamboni Racing and Big Head Hockey. EA Sports Hockey League is also listed but that one is guaranteed to be back regardless of the survey results. 

Realistically, with the timing in mind, EA is probably working towards all of these features right now. They’re not just going to start work on something from scratch months into the development cycle. The data they receive back though will probably influence what features get the axe and which ones stick. There are always some that hit the cutting room floor over the course of development. They could be shelved for another year or for good.

Ultimate Team is obviously a huge focus for the company even though it hasn’t taken off in NHL quite like it has in FIFA and Madden. With dwindling sales EA is relying more heavily on digital revenue – but they have to sell the game first in order to make money that way so it’s not all that matters. There’s no better example of that than NHL 15 which was stripped of the content consumers expected and the result was sales that were halved from NHL 14.

The arcade-style feature ideas will draw some ridicule but they could have a place in the game. If EA isn’t going to produce an separate arcade game fitting elements of that into the NHL series is not a bad idea. There needs to be a bridge to the sim games, or within them in some form or fashion, otherwise they’ll remain intimidating to the non-hardcore. The argument can be made however that development resources would be better spent on other features.

What do you think of the proposed features for NHL 16? Leave your thoughts in the comments on what you’d like to see included out of the bunch or other improvements you’d hope to see in the game next year!