EA Sports is using generative AI to create voiceover for its in-game commentators in NHL 27, according to veteran sports commentator John Buccigross.
When speaking on the Chirping Zebras podcast (initially spotted by Insider Gaming’s Mike Straw), Buccigross was talking about his experience working with EA Sports on the NHL games. He revealed that he will be in NHL 27, but EA also used generative AI to add voice lines as well.
“They’re using some AI now; they played me some stuff back of my voice,” said Buccigross. “It’s like ‘Wow, that’s pretty good!’ If that means less work but the same check, I’ll take it. Sometimes AI will get something wrong. One of the guys was playing it back, and a lot of these guys maybe aren’t hardcore sports fans; they’re video game extrordinares. They’re not always up on the vernacular. So they’re playing back my AI voice, and they’re like, ‘Score! And the crowd gets out of their chairs!’ I was like, ‘No, they’re not chairs. They look like chairs, but we call them seats.’
“So, little things like that, you gotta go back and listen because words matter. […] But then you can make AI smarter; in the future they’ll say seats, they won’t say chairs. You have to manually put that in. That was kind of a funny anecdote from the process.”
Generative AI is becoming increasingly common in the gaming industry, despite some fans pushing back on it. Call of Duty faced backlash for using AI to generate cosmetic items such as calling cards last year, and now, EA Sports seems to be embracing it in many of its games this year. This year’s installments of College Football, Madden, and FC all have labels on their respective Steam pages that notify players of the use of generative AI in development. NHL is not on Steam, so there’s no such disclaimer.
IGN has reached out to EA for comment on how AI is being used in the case of NHL 27 and if it extends beyond the game’s voiceover content. NHL 27 launches for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S September 11, 2026. IGN reviewed the game and gave it a 6/10, noting that, although it’s fun, it doesn’t do much to improve upon its predecessor.
“Hockey is one of the greatest sports in the world, and NHL 27 remains enjoyable largely due to that simple fact,” reads an excerpt from the review. “The satisfaction of delivering a bone-crushing hit or snapping a wrist shot past a goaltender is just as effective as ever, and tiny tweaks to stuff like stadiums and music continue to add authenticity in small doses – but there are no illusions that anything truly substantial has changed this year.”
