NHL needs a trello board
I think it’ll be a great idea for EA NHL to have a trello board, you’ve got one for Apex Legends and it’s a good way for us to see what’s being working on and what’s ready to be released and also wha...
Forum Discussion
@PlayoffError wrote:I'm not saying SaaS is some magic panacea for game development, but if you want openness and transparency from a development team locking them into a yearly release cycle isn't the way to go.
I think sports games would benefit the most from a SaaS model. The problem is what the suits think. Right now, you're getting (pure estimate) likely 350,000 - 400,000 base game sales.
Typically, SaaS games offer free entry - which means no base sales. You're relying entirely on subscriptions/season passes.
Can EA convince 350,000 - 400,000 users to shell out $10/month for access to World of Chel/HUT? If you make OVP/Ones/Drop-Ins free to play, how do you recoup base-game sales from that group? Maybe you start microtransactions for cosmetic items?
.. and would this even change the approach to development/bug fixes, or would there just be a massive 'patch' or 'update' released every October and then minimal updates throughout the year.. basically like we have now?
In any case, the current dev cycle is too short. But chances are, it's not only EA making the decision to put out a yearly game. The NHL itself is the biggest stakeholder here and there's no doubt they have an out-of-touch executive who may not have an understanding of the market to push EA to change things up.
@KidShowtime1867 I'd imagine the primary concern would be how to keep HUT going without the yearly reset when the new game comes out. New game sales certainly play a part, but UT is where the real money is for EA's sports games.
I doubt the player base would be thrilled with having their collection wiped out or otherwise made useless without a "new" game to go with it. But EA would need to somehow keep people on that power creep treadmill indefinitely to keep them buying packs for new cards.
I doubt the monthly subscription approach would go over well. There's not a lot of that left in the industry. Probably a 'battle pass' approach would be more palatable, but they'd need to come up with some way of monetizing it. The cosmetics currently in the game are underwhelming to say the least. Although if it becomes a more primary revenue generator maybe they'd spend more time and money on them.
I doubt the player base would be thrilled with having their collection wiped out or otherwise made useless without a "new" game to go with it. But EA would need to somehow keep people on that power creep treadmill indefinitely to keep them buying packs for new cards.
I doubt the monthly subscription approach would go over well. There's not a lot of that left in the industry. Probably a 'battle pass' approach would be more palatable, but they'd need to come up with some way of monetizing it. The cosmetics currently in the game are underwhelming to say the least. Although if it becomes a more primary revenue generator maybe they'd spend more time and money on them.
EA_AljoCommunity Manager
@PlayoffError wrote:
@KidShowtime1867 I'd imagine the primary concern would be how to keep HUT going without the yearly reset when the new game comes out. New game sales certainly play a part, but UT is where the real money is for EA's sports games.
I doubt the player base would be thrilled with having their collection wiped out or otherwise made useless without a "new" game to go with it. But EA would need to somehow keep people on that power creep treadmill indefinitely to keep them buying packs for new cards.
I doubt the monthly subscription approach would go over well. There's not a lot of that left in the industry. Probably a 'battle pass' approach would be more palatable, but they'd need to come up with some way of monetizing it. The cosmetics currently in the game are underwhelming to say the least. Although if it becomes a more primary revenue generator maybe they'd spend more time and money on them.I think if we set the expectation that teams would be reset annually, it wouldn't be as much of an issue. I like the battle pass approach though.
@EA_AljoI think there's a certain psychological hurdle to overcome if progress is reset without a 'new' game, but you could be right.
Are there any games doing that currently? I'm trying to think of an active game where people can spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on in-game 'power' just to have the game hit the reset button at set intervals and I'm drawing a blank.- EA_Aljo
@PlayoffError wrote:
@EA_AljoI think there's a certain psychological hurdle to overcome if progress is reset without a 'new' game, but you could be right.
Are there any games doing that currently? I'm trying to think of an active game where people can spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on in-game 'power' just to have the game hit the reset button at set intervals and I'm drawing a blank.Yeah. I agree that there would be some people upset about it, but we also can't just let teams remain stacked with 99 rated players. Since teams get reset every year, I think it would be understandable that they would reset if we moved to a subscription based plan.
I might be wrong, but I believe FIFA Mobile, Madden Mobile and NBA Live Mobile all do this. While they aren't subscription based games, they reset with each new real-world season. Again, I might not be totally correct on that.
