@EA_Aljo wrote:This really isn't so much about making more money off online players. The high majority of our playerbase is in online modes so it makes sense to prioritize those modes first. This doesn't mean that we don't care about offline players. It means updates for those modes was on hold this year so the online experience could be improved. Chances are good that focus shifts more to offline modes with online receiving less attention.. That's pure speculation currently since we haven't made any real announcements for anything past NHL 24.
You HAVE to admit that you just said the same thing as them just in a more "PR" way, right? The team prioritizes the online player base because that's where they make the most money. At the end of the day, it IS all about money. Making video games is a business. There's no chance that the modes that make less money will ever be given the main focus. Look at another EA property: Battlefield. The entire game's identity was shifted in order to sell more MTX (going to a "specialist" (hero) system as opposed to the generic soldier system that has been the franchise's bread and butter for decades).
EA has done a decent job to partition some of their attention towards making single-player games in recent years (the Jedi games, some EA originals, etc) but that's in spite of the money they make from FUT/HUT/MUT.
@NeonSkyline21I don't see offline becoming the main focus either, but I do see them piggybacking off say Online Franchise Mode they seemed interested in doing. So you might see offline getting some love in the form of presentation. Will it be the presentation that people want? Only time will tell.
This is how I see the priority.
Gameplay > HUT > Whatever needs to be attended to and juggled every couple of years.
Since the HUT community seems upset modes weren't changed and such I am expecting them to get some changes of life for NHL 25. I do think Online Franchise is being worked along with presentation for that. It probably won't make it in time for the next game but more than likely after.
