The full release of NHL 26 is just over a week away. And already, longtime Chel fans are chomping at the bit to get their hands on the latest entry into EA Sports’ long-running hockey sim. Over the past month or so, EA has been drip-feeding the community tidbits of information regarding new features for modes such as Hockey Ultimate Team, as well as a massive gameplay overhaul that is advertised as being a game-changer. Whether or not these features will be worth it remains to be determined, but there’s one way to see if they are before anyone else does, and that’s through Early Access.
As many sports gamers have noticed over the years, most triple-A sports titles offer Early Access to players who pre-order a more expensive version of the game, such as a Deluxe edition. This provides players with an incentive to fork out more than sticker price.
So, when does Early Access start for NHL 26? And what version (or versions) of the game affords that opportunity?
NHL 26 Early Access Release Date
The official Early Access release date for NHL 26 will be on September 5, 2025. As has become typical with virtually all of EA’s sports titles, this puts the release of Early Access a full week before the official release of the game.
For anyone who wishes to own NHL 26 from the second it’s released in Early Access, you will have to pre-order the Deluxe Edition, which retails for $99.99 on digital storefronts, though you can get a 10% discount if you have an EA Play subscription (which is included if you’re on Xbox and have Game Pass). However, if you haven’t yet made up your mind as to whether or not you want to purchase NHL 26, EA typically releases the 10-hour trial of a game at the same time it enters Early Access through EA Play.
Can You Play NHL 26 Early Using The New Zealand Trick?
As of the writing of this article, September 5 is only a few days away. However, for players who have already pre-ordered the Deluxe edition of NHL 26, that might feel like forever away. Therefore, many will be attempting to use the “New Zealand trick” in order to get even earlier access to the game.
For anyone who might not be aware of what it is, the “New Zealand trick” pertains to setting your console or PC storefront’s region to New Zealand to get even earlier access to a game. For instance, if you’re on the US East Coast, you can get a game as early as 16 hours before you’re intended to.
So, will the New Zealand trick work? I haven’t tried it in a while, but from my experience, EA Sports titles are typically region-locked, meaning that they become available once the clock strikes midnight in whatever region you’re in.
Should the New Zealand trick work for NHL 26, here are the earliest times when the game will be available in each time zone on Thursday, September 4:
- Eastern (EDT, UTC-4) – 8:00 AM
- Central (CDT, UTC-5) – 7:00 AM
- Mountain (MDT, UTC-6) – 6:00 AM
- Pacific (PDT, UTC-7) – 5:00 AM
- Arizona (MST, UTC-7, no DST) – 5:00 AM
- Alaska (AKDT, UTC-8) – 4:00 AM
- Hawaii–Aleutian — Aleutians (HADT, UTC-9) – 3:00 AM
- Hawaii (HST, UTC-10, no DST) – 2:00 AM
- Atlantic — PR/USVI (AST, UTC-4, no DST) – 8:00 AM
