Won't be coming to PC
very disappoited.
Forum Discussion
People aren't asking to bring the game to OUYA, we're asking for the game to be brought to the largest platform in the gaming market (Steam/PC).
Hell, EA built their own descript platform on PC - why they refuse to support their OWN platform with their OWN games is beyond me.
EA_Aljo
Community Manager
Community ManagerThis has been very heavily discussed over the last few years. The TLDR is that, contrary to popular belief, there just isn't a big enough audience for it. Yes, we fully understand you and your friends would play. That's awesome, but we would need a much higher amount of PC hockey players to warrant the very high cost of this. Porting the game to PC is probably the easier part. Combine that with building an infrastructure to support it and those costs skyrocket. Not to mention, all that work that goes in to this means the far more popular console versions wouldn't get the attention they need with all those resources devoted to a PC version.
We all are die hard hockey fans, but it also doesn't have the worldwide fandom of a sport like soccer. This is reflected as well in the amount of PC video game hockey players. It would take a pretty extraordinary amount of them to make the very big job of bring the game to PC not be a loss.
how can you pretend to know that there wouldn't be a big enough pool for a PC version? I have been receiving the annual EA sports nhl survey for at least ten years, and I have never seen a question regarding my interest in a PC version
the game barley sells on console why would you think there would be a pc version lol. madden and fifa sells more copies on day one than nhl sells the full year combined. hockeys just not a very popular sport. canada has the same amo
unt of people as califonia.
exactly this, its got nothing to do with sales numbers thats just nonsense
- @EA_Aljo This is why people lose hope though.
Its a vicious circle. There is like 0 investment from EA in the product, so of course the playerbase wont grow, instead you have been bleeding hardcore players each year from having a game that doesnt meet the need and is barely supported, from a network architecture to a software balance.
Smaller MUCH smaller publishers put their games cross platform.
Its pretty obvious that the NHL franchise is built upon the model of "bare minimum investment, maximum profit to support other titles" model and thats disheartening.
Every company loses money when they try to make a title larger. Thats part of business. EA just has 0 interest in expanding the product and is content selling a patch every year for $80 + HUT gambling disorder predatory earnings.
I think it would be great that people like you push up the message that people had enough and that its time to show some signs that EA is willing to invest in its products or just cancel it and let the industry adjust itself.why lock the other thread we were using to show support for a pc release? is it because you dont want it to be known there is alot of traction from the community for a pc release? it kinda saddens me to see the real lack of care from ea mod team.
Just stop giving EA your money its what a lot of people have done.
- EA_Aljo
First you say -
@NeRvEaGeNtUK wrote:
Just stop giving EA your money its what a lot of people have done.
Then you claim this -
@NeRvEaGeNtUK wrote:
exactly this, its got nothing to do with sales numbers thats just nonsense
It takes money to add features and support other platforms. Especially a PC version that would have a far smaller player base. Not to mention the very high amount of resources, which cost money, to support a PC version of the game. So, your original statement just makes the second statement more false. Hockey is a borderline niche sport. It just doesn't have the audience that warrants the very high investment when that's not going to be returned. Unfortunately, we need money to make a PC version happen. It's not a situation where we can just copy and paste and call it a day. If it were, there would be a PC version by now.
@EA_Aljo
"The TLDR is that, contrary to popular belief, there just isn't a big enough audience for it."
This has been the message for the last several years. However the PC market is MUCH different than it was back in 2008(NHL09) when EA NHL last shipped on PC. What metrics, stats, proof is there that EA claims there's no current PC Hockey market?Number of PC gaming users worldwide from 2008 to 2024
Number of Gamers Worldwide 2022/2023: Demographics, Statistics, and Predictions
- EA_Aljo
I've said it many times. This isn't about the number of PC players growing. It's about how many of them want to play a sim-style hockey game. The reality is that it's going to be a lot less than what everyone seems to be thinking. Take the number of FIFA players on PC. Now, subtract that by 10x. That's a more realistic number and it's not enough to support a PC release.
I truly hope a PC version comes out someday or at a minimum, cloud gaming supports it so it can be played on a PC.
So the issue is too many mouths to feed, because if dev teams with less than 5 people can put out solid PC games with a few years of dev time and make a profit then a company with thousands of employees should be able to figure it out. Man hours on a project should be the same regardless of team size, bigger team is less hours per person. Ez Pz.
Still hoping some indie dev will put out a competing game but sadly it seems like motorsport is the only sport that has any competition on PC.
- @EA_Aljo where are you and your team coming up with the information you use to determine if there are enough people to warrant a pc release? it obviously isnt the ea forums as if it was you wouldnt lock ever post about a pc release. is it the total active steam users? cant be that as there are over 130m. is it other hockey game sales on pc? well there arent any being made by big developers just a couple indie companies. one of which, latest i might add has done pretty well. so please explain to use as adults why we cant get it not just say what is essentially your opinion. that way we can figure out a way to make it work for you.
Multiple threads on the same topic will hurt your cause so they are either locked or merged into one. I only just logged in so I don't know specifically which thread but this isn't to censor you.
130m active users means nothing if they don't wanna play hockey. Someone used Tape to Tape sales in their pitch to port it over but that didn't sell nearly enough to really spook EA.
Everyone bashes EA's product (I fully admit I'm one of em), but they don't own a monopoly - anybody is able to make one, even a AAA studio - nobody wants to do it because sales would be weak and its an expensive type of game to make.
Judging from all the comments in these PC threads over the years I'd say a ton of people have purchased a console to play NHL as they always say "I refuse to buy another console to play this game". PS4 has had a decade of hockey and will most likely be around next year too and they cost less than a PC upgrade.
Also, it's a bit nitpicky but can I ask you to edit a post if you have more to add please? People usually post about how popular certain topics (like this) are but its almost always the same pople posting, inflating numbers which hurts the "priority" in the long run
- @TTZ_Dipsy so the one with the most support is the one you decided to lock? in favor of a brand new one? what kinda logic is that to you?
Is ea sports PGA tour more popular than hockey?
Build it and they will come......
Seriously, I understand the cost associated with a new port but there is no hockey on PC. The whole market will be yours. Just like was. I remember buying a Voodoo GPU so I can play NHL on PC using 3D accelerated hardware. Those were the days.
- @Symtexbc This.. Build the game and okay if the game isn't profitable for few years so be it. Just make the game for PC and that's it.
Then release it with "cross-play" which would really just mean the XBL and PSN servers would take the additional concurrent players.
- We all are aware of the sales vs others like fifa. This makes the problem worse. It means less sales. I'm not buying a console for 1 game. I won't be buying again this year because I'm not paying 750 bucks to play a game. I have not bought since xbox one. I've bought my gaming pc and do not plan to buy a console when I have way better. Either way you slice it. It comes out to less sales because I'm not even close to thinking this way. How many individual copies didn't sell this year again?
Bring it to pc plz
If it was released for the pc it would be the death of the game.
Online is bad enough with people abusing the glitches never mind having the pc hackers to deal with.
Just look at the reviews for games that have cross play with pc users and you'll find that console users are totally against it.
I believe PC release can go south for the game, but not for the reasons you mentioned.
Console players complain that PC players are hackers and PC players complain that couch console players don't take competitive modes seriously and ruin the games. Nothing new.
I have never stopped playing a game with crossplay because of the nature of other platform players nor I have ever seen a negative game review JUST BECAUSE the crossplay exists, I want to see those red reviews that you are talking about. Is it Rocket League? Is it Apex? Is it Fortnite? There can be an option to disable crossplay and a lot of games do.
I don't feel like just because an absolute minority of PC players could cause some problems is a good enough justification to deprive the whole platform of access to the game. Now, some concerns may arise if we look at who we have to trust to address these problems... Khem... EA...
What I think could ruin the PC comeback story is plain and simple - a bad game. It will be picked up, ridiculed, and eventually uninstalled forever, probably refunded.
I think the release to PC must be flawless. The game must be good. Sadly the NHL 24 devs don't rhyme with 'good game'. I would not want them to be responsible for PC release. As an advocate for NHL PC, I say - don't do it. Fix your dev team. I don't know what is the problem, is it management, skill, motivation, or what? Sort it out. Blow the players away with a good console release first.
What an absolute joke that an EA representative is coming on here and spouting conjecture as though it were fact, with absolutely no sources to back up any of said claims.
I'm pretty sure I've read this same thread in years past, and it's the same guy saying the exact same things as before. How is this person a good representative for the EA NHL brand? Reading his posts does nothing but * me off, and make me resent EA even more.
Brutal PR.
Pot calling the kettle black type of situation here - it's been the same old tired song and dance for years now and I don't expect much to change. Who exactly would you like to give an official response instead?
