EA Sports has updatedNHL 22with the new 1.6 patch, bringing multiple minor fixes to its in-game features. The update is the game’s third of the year, with the last coming in February whenEA launched a roster updatethat changed the overall scores of certain players.The new patch arrived on March 30, fixing two areas ofNHL 22while adding new content. The update was the cause for the game’s online servers undergoing downtime, which lasted an hour, but the fixes are live, and players can jump back into the action.RELATED:EA Shutting Down Multiple NHL ServersFirst on the menu was the addition of the UBS Arena, the new home of the New York Islanders. Opened in November 2021, the multipurpose arena hosts a variety of sports teams in the New York area and can hold up to 18,500 sports fans. EA made a fix to an issue relating to the puck’s speed when bouncing off the boards, which appeared unrealistic compared to real-life situations, a minor problem thatNHL 22beginners and expertsalike took advantage of. Finally, the Nashville Predators' Stadium Series jerseys received an update to include white numbers on the back, replicating the actual uniform.
While the fixes address outdated aspects of the game, the player base did not ignore the glaring omissions that remain in the game. One user writes, “How about the rest of the goalie pads that are missing from the game still. What a joke,” pointing out the lack of consistency in terms of player and goaltender equipment changes. Another hot button issue is the interference penalty calculations, which players have documented numerous times to show thatNHL 22’s methodology when calling the penalty makes little-to-no sense. While EA is remaining on top of major issues, such asworld-scale issues involving the Ukraine-Russia war, the developer could stand to address certain areas of concern each month to improve other areas of the game.
Back in 2020,EA announced multi-year extensionswith itsNHLandUFCbrands, making it the sole proprietary owner of both franchises for the unforeseeable future. With that knowledge, the player base of both titles expects the developer to remain involved with implementing and updating its games throughout the year. As history dictates, certain problems remain in the game with no word or hint at a fix, and fans of the title are becoming increasingly restless at the idea that the developer doesn’t care enough about its property. The game still suffers from random crashing, matchmaking disconnections, freezing points in certain areas of the game, and a lack of improvements towards cross-platform matchmaking, and addressing these concerns could have a positive impact on the game’s overall experience.
NHL 22is available to play on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
