EA acknowledges Asia-Pacific NHL 26 matchmaking issues, working on a fix

For now, we get an Asia-Pacific dedicated server.

EA has acknowledged NHL 26 matchmaking issues for those in the Asia-Pacific region, implementing a dedicated regionalised server while a “more permanent solution” is found.

I’ve not been able to matchmake within NHL 26‘s World of Chel mode since I began playing in the title’s pre-release window; more than 20 days later, I’ve yet to play a single game of Ones or Threes Eliminator. I’m not alone either, as jnchero90 on EA’s own forums detailed.

“Now living in India, so my region is Asia-Pacific,” the user wrote. “While I connect to some games in HUT, I was not able to find any matchmaking today for CHEL mode at all (doesnt matter if 3v3, ones, threes, whatever).”

I too have found I can matchmake inside HUT, or Hockey Ultimate Team.

Replying to a query about the matter, EA has tonight confirmed with Stevivor that there are indeed larger issues at play.

“[The NHL team has] seen a few players in the Asia-Pacific region experience similar issues, and after investigating, they found it was tied to connection challenges when matches included players with very different ping levels and smaller player pools in the region,” an EA representative told Stevivor.

“While they continue to investigate this to supply a more permanent solution, they’ve added a dedicated server for Asia-Pacific to improve the connectivity,” the representative continued.

Jumping on NHL 26 tonight, I’m still encountering the same issues as before… but since other players mightn’t have been able to matchmake for close to two weeks, it may take some time for word to spread and numbers to rise.

NHL 26 is available on Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and PS5. Crossplay is supported between Xbox and PlayStation inside its matchmaking.

NHL 26 12 September 2025 PS5 Xbox Series S & X   Buy on Xbox: Microsoft Store, Amazon Buy on PlayStation: PlayStation Store, Amazon