14 DAY TRIAL // EA Sports has confirmed that it is dropping the Hockey League and the Connected GM modes from its upcoming NHL 15 in order to allow the development team to focus more on making the core gameplay experience the best it can be.
Weirdly, the change only applies to the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 versions of the game, which are using a more advanced engine, and will be present in the titles on the PS3 and the Xbox 360.
Sean Ramjagsingh, a producer working on the title, is quoted by NeoGAF as saying, “We know that there is a passionate group of fans that loves these modes and is no doubt disappointed with this news; but we also know that this same group of fans expects a high quality gameplay experience above anything else.”
The biggest loss is the Hockey League mode, which allowed players to engage in complex matches with 6 human gamers on each side.
Apparently, the studio has some concerns over quality and wants to deal with the disappointment of gamers now rather than face their criticism later while knowing it cannot improve the quality of the experience.
NHL 15 will be launched on September 9 in North America and three days later in Europe, and it can be tested by those who own the EA Access service on the Xbox One.