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International play can now be enabled in custom games.
To add international tournaments during your custom league setup, check the "Play International Tournaments" box on the "Start a Custom Game" popup. International play cannot be added to an existing game, it must be enabled during initial setup.
There are three international tournaments in custom games:
- World Championship: held every season where the season-ending year is not evenly divisible by 4 (e.g. 2024-25, 2025-26, 2026-27). This is either a 4-team or 8-team tournament, depending on how many national teams have enough players to compete. It may be cancelled in a season where there are an inadequate number of players available to fill at least 4 teams
- Division I Championship: held every season where the season-ending year is not evenly divisible by 4 (e.g. 2024-25, 2025-26, 2026-27). It is only active if the main World Championship tournament has 8 teams and enough countries have players available to fill at least 4 more teams. This is either a 4-team or 8-team tournament, depending on how many national teams have enough players to compete. It may be cancelled in a season where there are an inadequate number of players available to fill at least 4 teams
- Winter Olympics: held every season where the season-ending year is evenly divisible by 4 (e.g. 2027-28, 2021-32). It can be either a 4, 8, 12, or 16-team tournament, depending on how many national teams have enough players to compete. It may be cancelled in a year if there are an inadequate number of players available to fill at least 4 teams.
Unlike standard games, custom games determine which international tournaments occur and the way they're organized on a dynamic basis, at the start of every new season. On July 2, there will be a check to determine how many national teams have enough players available to fill out a roster and, conequently, which tournaments can be supported.
In order for a national team to be eligible to participate, it must have at least 30 players. Then, all eligible teams are ranked in order of their overall quality, and the tournaments are organized and teams assigned to them.
Note that this means there is no promotion between tournaments - winning the Division I Championship does not guarantee participation in the next World Championship.
Tournament Rules
- All tournaments are scheduled to begin 7 days after the end of the top-level league's playoffs
- 4-team format: 4 team round-robin group, then single-game medal round. Gold Medal: 1v2, Bronze Medal: 3v4.
- 8-team format: 2x4 team round-robin groups, then two-round single-game playoffs. Round 1: #1 in each group plays #2. Gold Medal: winners of Round 1. Bronze Medal: losers of Round 2.
- 12-team format: 3x4 team round-robin groups, then three-round single-game playoffs. Round 1: #1 in each group is seeded 1-3 and get a bye, and the 2 teams with the next-highest points are seeded 4-5 and play each other. Round 2: 1 vs. 4/5 winner and 2 vs. 3. Gold Medal: winners of Round 2. Bronze Medal: losers of Round 2.
- 16-team format: 4x4 team round-robin groups, then three-round single-game playoffs. Round 1: 1A vs. 2D, 1D vs. 2A, 1B vs. 2C, 2C vs. 1B. Round 2: A/D winners vs. each other, B/C winners vs. each other. Gold Medal: winners of Round 2. Bronze Medal: losers of Round 2.
- Standiongs tiebreakers: Points, Regulation-time wins, Goal Differential, Total Goals, then random choice
- Game Rules:
- Round-robin: 3 points for a win, 1 for OTL/SOL; 10-minute OT (4 skaters) followed by shootout
- Playoffs: 20-minute OT (5 skaters) followed by shootout
- Roster size: 2 goalies, 8 defencemen, 12 forwards; there are no age requirements, all players are eligible, regardless of league (so keep in mind when setting up your leagues that an extremely long schedule can result in overlap with an international tournament, pulling players away from their club teams during the playoffs.
As in standard and historical games, you can control international teams; you may be offered a job on July 1.
