Is the PC Community being Ignored By EA?
Every year the amount of people who want NHL on PC grows and every year its disappointment. Is the PC Community being Ignored By EA? as a person who moved fully to PC this year and as part of the PC ...
Forum Discussion
EA_Aljo
Community Manager
Community Manageri learned how to play hockey on the road with a ball and stick for 30 bucks at Walmart but okay lol. still has nothing to do with a game..
It does though. The accessibility of the sport helps drive its popularity. Not to mention, hockey is an extremely physical sport that takes a more fearless type of person to play. And most likely one that not a lot of parents are pushing their kids into. My point is that it just doesn't have the popularity that other a lot of other sports have. Which also means the video game doesn't as large an audience as bigger sports.
Yes, FC and Madden had their playerbases grow. I'm sure those sports have also grown. I'm in Austin, TX. We have 2 sports teams here. Texas Stars and Austin FC. People go absolutely crazy for Austin FC. I live near the stadium and it's bonkers on game days. I love going to Stars games. I saw a couple during the playoffs and the crowd was awesome. The games were fantastic. However, it severely lacked the energy of an MLS match that draws a bigger crowd and one that puts up with ridiculously hot weather. Yes, it's Texas though. I also lived in Portland, OR for a long time. Timbers games always drew far bigger crowds than Winterhawks games. It's entirely possible that's not the same in Canada though. Here, American football pretty much beats everything. I'm just using my real world experience as an example. My point is, the popularity of a sport correlates with how well the video game sells. I truly hope that someday we're able to support a PC version of our game.
As far as transparency goes, I'm giving you reasons why we haven't had a PC release in a very long time and what we need to make it happen going forward. We fully acknowledge there's a PC hockey community though. The dev team isn't going to post all the research they've done and break down the various costs and potential forecasts. It's pretty easy to see why there is no PC version when you look at the history of PC hockey games. They've always been more popular on console.
EA has held the market position and NHL license control for over 20 years.
We haven't held control over the NHL license. It's never been exclusive to EA. Regardless of relationships built over the years, again, there is nothing stopping anyone else from getting that same licensing. Especially other companies with a history of licensed sports games like Sony and 2K.
Most developers can’t justify the cost of building a full AAA hockey sim plus paying for NHL/NHLPA/CHL/NCAA licenses just to compete with EA.
Yeah, it's an expensive endeavor. Which again adds credence to my statement about hockey just not being popular enough. For example, there are other soccer games with official licensing. Because those games have the playerbase to support them. Regardless, if you take licensing out of it, why isn't anyone making a sim hockey game? Anyone could make the same type of game that we do without licensing. At the heart of it, we're all here for a competitive hockey experience. That's not something EA has exclusivity of. Another company could build that without the NHL licensing. It's a huge amount of work which means a very large investment so I imagine the companies capable of putting out a AAA hockey game are shy to do so.
I'm not saying it's never going to happen. I truly hope there is a PC version some day. I'd love for us to support as many platforms as possible.
You’re blending personal opinions with corporate messaging, and in the process, making EA’s stance sound even more confused and contradictory.
Let’s break down a few key points.
“Hockey isn’t as accessible as soccer.”
True — in real life. But this is a video game discussion. Gran Turismo players don’t own supercars. FIFA players don’t play for Manchester United. Accessibility of the sport has no bearing on a game’s potential success, especially when NHL already thrives on console.
“PC isn’t NHL’s core audience.”
You don’t say? It’s never been given the chance. That’s like locking a product out of a market and then saying, “see, no one’s buying it there.” Meanwhile, Madden has had five years of poor PC performance — and still gets a port every year. Why does Madden deserve patience, but NHL doesn’t deserve a test?
“We don’t control the market, anyone can make a hockey game.”
And yet no one has — because EA has held de facto control of the hockey sim space for over 20 years. You may not have legal exclusivity, but you’ve built the infrastructure, branding, licensing relationships, and fanbase. Acting like other devs can “just make one” is detached from reality.
“If there were demand, other companies would be doing it.”
False. That’s like saying “no one else made a console basketball sim for 10 years, so clearly NBA games aren’t viable.” 2K crushed that idea. Same could happen here — if someone took the chance. The problem is: EA refuses to be that someone, while still holding the genre hostage.
“PC hockey games were always more popular on console.”
Yes, because the last NHL game on PC was in 2008.
Seventeen years have passed since then.
Steam, Twitch, YouTube, digital distribution, social media — everything has changed.
There is no such thing as a “history of failure on PC” because PC simply didn't get a chance in the modern ecosystem.
“Madden, FC, and F1 have the playerbase to justify it.”
Let’s be honest. Madden doesn’t. The numbers prove it.
Madden NFL 21 peaked at 3,226 on Steam.
Madden NFL 25 peaked at 5,917.
Madden NFL 26 has <1,000 followers in 3+ months.
You’re not defending logic. You’re defending complacency.
There’s a PC community that wants NHL. It’s been loud, consistent, and patient. And instead of saying "Let’s test it once and see," EA keeps repeating "We don’t see the numbers."
How could you? You've never looked.
The "accessibility" excuse makes no sense. It's a video game. It's selling fantasy. Why else would Codemasters make an F1 game? And why would the "accessibility" test apply strictly to hockey on PC, but not hockey on console or F1 on PC? (Let's be honest, F1 is grandfathered in on PC because EA acquired Codemasters. We all know that a homegrown EA Sports F1 title would be console-only.)
If we want to talk about Madden's declining numbers, that didn't "just happen" like EA had no agency in the matter. EA made the intentional choice to withhold PS5/Xbox Series parity on PC for three years, and Madden customers voted with their wallets. Actions, meet consequences.
Even if EA can argue that technical issues held back Madden for three (questionable) years, what does that say for SEVENTEEN YEARS of no NHL on PC? That's not "Gosh, PC game dev is hard", that's just "[Bleep] off, PC gamers". That anti-PC attitude was what got the entire EA Sports PC lineup wiped out in the first place in the late '00s. It's never gone away, and EA will never stop deflecting blame back on "customers" they don't really want.
