NHL® 23 Presentation Deep Dive

NHL® 23 will mark the second EA SPORTS™ NHL title on Frostbite and along with this powerful game-engine comes several amazing upgrades to the presentation and look of NHL 23. Read more for the full details on all the eye-catching changes to NHL 23 and check out the Presentation Deep Dive video here.

We’ve heard community feedback from previous EA SPORTS NHL titles and that’s informed the newest changes to the NHL 23 Stanley Cup Celebration. 

To capture the tradition of passing the Cup around the championship team, NHL 23 will feature an interactive Stanley Cup celebration where players will be able to choose who’s going to receive the Cup next as the crowd celebrates with sparklers and confetti. Players will be prompted to pass the cup to the next player with a pop-up asking “Who do you want to hand the cup to next?” Once chosen, commentary will justify your choice based on 65 complex stories that are accurate to your team.

And most excitingly, the cup will actually feature your name after the team photo has been taken! So whether you're playing a specific NHL player or one of your own creation, you’ll see your player’s name etched into the Stanley Cup!

New Updates to Celebration: Hat Trick

While in previous EA SPORTS NHL titles the hat trick appeared in-game, NHL 23 features a revamped hat trick with more hats, props, and crowd excitement that expands the minor celebration to an authentic moment. From making your own tradition in EASHL by customizing the hat trick to release teddy bears, alien plushies, plastic rats, roses, and more to experiencing the sheer number of hats on-ice, the celebration is a fresh experience in NHL 23.

Crowd Reactions Revamped

Further adding to the intensity and excitement of the game, NHL 23 features updates to the crowd that react more intelligently to action on the ice. Crowds are now more aware of the game, reacting to huge comebacks, blow outs, incredible shots and more with new audio reactions. 

The duration and loudness of cheers, reactions to shots, goals, chants and more are determined by a crowd engagement score which favors the home team and develops over the game - for example when the home team scores more goals in succession, the crowd will get louder and more engaged. Even in playoff games, home team crowds will be louder than in typical games because of the high stakes.

But the crowd will also react to negative aspects of the game as well. For example, when a home-team player gets injured by the away team, the crowd will remember this and react negatively to the opposing player whenever they get ahold of the puck. If a player manages to hit opposing players who have injured the home team, the crowd will get more excited than ever. 

And if the home team gets a penalty then the crowd will concentrate their boos on the referee - if penalties continue, their boos will get louder throughout the game, sometimes even resulting in commentary about the crowd’s reaction.

In addition to these audience reactions, authentic NHL chants will appear in NHL 23 which were captured via over 30 voice actors recreating authentic NHL team chants. When things are coming down to the wire, the crowd will cheer even louder and commentators will announce the gravity of the situation - adding an additional layer of emotion and competition to your games.

And to accompany these upgrades to crowd reaction, players on ice react with different post-game celebrations in correlation to the stakes of the games. From rushing to the goalie or player who makes the last goal to raising their sticks in celebration, players will react more intelligently to the end of the game for an authentic finish to your wins.

On-Ice Projections and Stadium Improvements

But the end-of-game animations aren’t the only thing getting an upgrade this year with a new pre-game experience that includes on-ice video projections accompanied by the crowd waving light sticks as players prepare for the face-off. On-ice projections are featured in World of Chel where you can customize them for your own team or utilize one of many authentic NHL on-ice projections for teams including the Avalanche, Lightning, Maple Leafs, Canucks, Hurricanes, and Flyers.

NHL 23 will also feature higher resolution ice so that it appears crystal clear on 4k televisions. And now, ice will be displaced throughout the game - accumulating on the sides of the goalie, boards and many parts of the rink in relation to areas of the ice that see the most skating. And finally, the ice has improved reflections from stadium lights and the jumbotron.

NHL 23 completely outperforms previous titles in visual richness with enhanced character detail. From oil on the surface of the skin, to a new skin shading model, and general upgrades to likeness, characters in NHL 23 look more life-like than ever before. Also arriving in NHL 23, are reflections across the skin from stadium lights which can simulate mild exertion as sweat and oil accumulates on the skin and reflects light during a game. This, along with life-like reflections to the eyes from lights to enliven eyes improve every aspect of NHL 23’s presentation with a more accurate character appearance.

We’ve also updated our generic head pool to represent more diverse ethnic backgrounds. And with the addition of more women players than ever before, we’ve also increased our pool of women being represented in our generic heads as well.

After seeing the highly requested feature - NHL 23 will have national anthems added back into the game. Now, players will hear the final few notes of the home team’s national anthem before the game begins. Inside World of Chel, you will be able to select from all of the major countries to hear their national anthem before the game, and when you’re playing as a IIHF team, you’ll hear that national anthem.

We also have taken community feedback into account and brought back mirrored visors in NHL 23. While they appeared as a bug in NHL 22, by popular demand mirrored visors are now a fully-integrated player-building option for your equipment.To complement the addition of mirrored visors, NHL 23 brings you a whole new level of control with customizable helmets with the ability to add a metallic finish to your helmet.

In addition to these improvements to equipment, we’ve created more geometrically realistic and authentic equipment by scanning goalie gear, player helmets, skates, and gloves to get an accurate look for integral parts of your character.

As always, we continue to take community feedback into account when making improvements to all EA SPORTS NHL titles. So experience the intricate and authentic storytelling of the improved gameday atmosphere and more in NHL 23! Pre-order* NHL 23 X-Factor Edition now to get on the ice with access three days early.

*Conditions & restrictions apply. See http://www.ea.com/games/nhl/nhl-23/game-and-offer-disclaimers for details.