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Playground Productions and Mega Cat Studios released the Backyard Baseball Mega Patch today, bringing major improvements, new features, and fixes — available to download now.
Posted in: Electronic Arts, Games, NHL, Video Games | Tagged: EA Sports, NHL 27
NHL 27 Reveals More About The Connected Franchise Mode
The latest developer diary for NHL 27 shows off the new Connected Franchise mode as players have more control over how the league plays out.
Article Summary
- NHL 27 Connected Franchise lets friends run an online league together, battling through a custom season for the Cup.
- EA’s new developer diary highlights faster league creation, smoother navigation, and a streamlined pre-league hub.
- NHL 27 commissioners can share League IDs, send invites, approve join requests, and organize teams before launch.
- Connected Franchise supports custom rosters, crossplay roster sharing, and deep control over rules, playoffs, and caps.
EA Sports dropped new details about a new mode being added to NHL 27, as they showed off more of the Connected Franchise mode. The developer diary, which you can see above, goes into more detail about how this is more than just a new addition; it's a new way to play online with friends, as you can all compete in your own league with your favorite teams. All vying to raise the cup at the end of the season. We have a snippet of details from their latest blog below, as the game will be released on September 11, 2026.
Creating a Connected Franchise in NHL 27
Connected Franchise is designed to get your group into a league quickly, while still giving you complete control over how that league plays. Under the hood, the mode is built on a brand-new infrastructure engineered to be lightning-quick during league creation and navigation, delivering a significantly faster, smoother experience than in the old GM Connected days.
Getting Started & Pre-League Organization
Getting your league off the ground is easier than ever:
- Joining & Creating: Commissioners can easily create a new league and share its automatically generated League ID directly or via group chat apps. Commissioners can also send direct invites to users, allowing them to choose from available open teams upon accepting. When users request to join a league via a League ID, they can select their preferred team, and the commissioner can accept or decline the request.
- Pre-League Hub: Before the season kicks off, a dedicated pre-league state allows commissioners to invite users via EA Connect, share League IDs, review join requests, and make sure everyone is ready before hitting start.
Deep Customization & Custom Rosters
From league size to structure, you have total control over how your NHL 27 hockey world operates:
- Custom & Shared Rosters: Start your league with default EA rosters, updated EA rosters released throughout the year, or full custom rosters. The custom roster utility lets you create players, move players between teams, and design custom teams and arenas. Best of all, roster sharing features full crossplay support—ensuring everyone in your league builds from the same setup, no matter what console they play on.
- Tailored Structure: Set up your league for anywhere from a tight 3-friend group to a full 32-team league. Select your schedule formats, establish playoff formats, configure salary cap rules, customize division and conference setups, tweak rule sets, and modify gameplay sliders.
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