I think you VASTLY underestimate how it is now an established revenue stream for EA to "put in X amount of dev hours into the game @ X rate" and sell the game yearly at Y rate.
In essence, their whole budget (expenses vs revenues) is based off reselling the game each year.
Add to that people in HUT re-purchasing tons of money's worth of cards they had already owned in the previous year over and over which they wouldnt do anymore if they didnt have to rebuy the "new" game each year.
Lets face it, Sports games are the biggest scam in the video game industry but the day a EA VP is going to pull that plug on that revenue stream is the day that VP is fired.
In other words, unless an ongoing model (which I 100% agree with by the way) is going to make MORE (not similar but more to justify the effort) money to EA on a yearly basis, its not happening or it would have happened long ago.
My 2 cents.
kezz123 thanks for the read and reply!
Yeah, I get the business side you’re talking about — safe yearly resell plus HUT reset is guaranteed money. But NHL is also their lowest-selling sports title, so if there’s any game to try something different with, it’s this one.
Online/HUT will always be their main moneymaker, but imagine if offline modes had the kind of depth nobody else offers: full customization for players (hair, gear, edits inside and outside Franchise), evolving storylines and drama, commentary teams that feel natural and change with different networks, and achievements that actually get discussed by commentators and league narratives. You’d bring in non-traditional NHL gamers who just want a living, immersive hockey world.
Under a subscription model, people can’t just buy once and check out — they’d need to stay subscribed to keep playing, customizing, and following all the new content. If the game evolves in real time with season updates, off-season drama, draft events, and international tournaments, the buzz never dies. And if they finally put it on PC under a sub-based system, mods and customization wouldn’t be a threat — they’d actually drive more engagement while still guaranteeing yearly revenue.
Online/HUT will always be their main moneymaker, but imagine if offline modes had the kind of depth nobody else offers: full customization for players (hair, gear, edits inside and outside Franchise), evolving storylines and drama, commentary teams that feel natural and change with different networks, and achievements that actually get discussed by commentators and league narratives. You’d bring in non-traditional NHL gamers who just want a living, immersive hockey world.
Under a subscription model, people can’t just buy once and check out — they’d need to stay subscribed to keep playing, customizing, and following all the new content. If the game evolves in real time with season updates, off-season drama, draft events, and international tournaments, the buzz never dies. And if they finally put it on PC under a sub-based system, mods and customization wouldn’t be a threat — they’d actually drive more engagement while still guaranteeing yearly revenue.
You just throw around familiar game-dev and business buzzwords—“immersion,” “storylines,” “mods,” “engagement,” “evolving content”—without ever grappling with the actual development, licensing, or cost implications. It sounds impressive on the surface, but there’s no detail on how these ideas would realistically be resourced, implemented, or tested in NHL’s tiny dev cycle compared to FIFA/Madden.
The “subscription solves everything” angle is shallow. Sub models don’t automatically drive engagement—they risk burnout if content drops aren’t consistent or meaningful. NHL has one of the smallest audiences among EA Sports titles, so over-promising constant drama, commentary, and events is financially risky. You pretend subscriptions are a silver bullet while ignoring retention challenges.
Suggesting that offline depth (haircuts, evolving storylines, commentary variety) would bring in “non-traditional NHL gamers” is wishful thinking. Casuals won’t suddenly flock to NHL just because of customizable hair physics. These features are expensive to build and maintain, and they don’t convert to reliable revenue the way Ultimate Team microtransactions do. Your entire post confuses “cool ideas” with actual moneymakers.
The claim that mods and customization would “drive more engagement” under a subscription model completely glosses over EA’s legal, licensing, and competitive issues. Mods introduce brand/IP risks with NHL’s league partners. The idea that EA would welcome mods under a sub-based PC model shows a lack of understanding of how tightly EA and the NHL protect their product.
The chart looks authoritative, but it’s just a hypothetical overlay—there’s no evidence given for how subscription revenue or a PC boost would actually materialize. It's just filler to look data-driven, when it’s just a stylized “what if” projection.
You never touch on the core truth: NHL is a niche title in EA’s portfolio. It has fewer dev resources, smaller reach, and lower margins. Any argument worth considering would acknowledge that constraint first and then build realistic pathways forward. Instead, you're using ChatGPT to paint a fantasy hockey universe with endless evolving drama, mods, and guaranteed subscriptions—none of which matches EA’s actual risk-averse strategy
Man, you’re acting like I don’t understand the business side of this. I literally said NHL is EA’s lowest-selling sports title. That’s exactly why this is the franchise where they could afford to try something different. It’s not Madden or EAFC where the machine prints money. Playing it safe is exactly why NHL is stuck as the smallest sports franchise they have.
Yeah, subscriptions aren’t magic, but pretending the current yearly resell and HUT reset is the only way forward is lazy thinking. Live service models already drive most of EA’s revenue. FIFA, Madden, Apex… all of them prove that people will spend more when the game feels alive. NHL could be more than a niche product if they stopped treating it like one.
And don’t twist what I said about offline. I never said customizable hair was going to sell millions of copies. I said offline immersion, storylines, commentary depth, franchise drama, and customization all build stickiness. You hook new players by making NHL feel like a living hockey world, not just rosters plus ice. You keep subs alive by giving people reasons to log in every month.
Mods and PC? Sure, EA is risk-averse with licensing. But pretending it’s impossible is nonsense. They already do it with Sims, Battlefield, and Skate. Mods drive engagement everywhere. Gate NHL behind a subscription and you control access while still letting the community fuel buzz. That’s revenue, not risk.
As for the chart, of course it’s illustrative. Nobody is claiming it’s an official EA projection. It’s called making a business case. You can nitpick the numbers, but the reality is clear. Live services already account for more than 70 percent of EA’s revenue. Adding a subscription model and finally putting NHL on PC would add money, not lose it.
You can call it fantasy all you want, but the bigger fantasy is believing NHL will ever grow past niche status if EA just keeps pumping out seventy dollar roster updates forever.
I’ll give credit where it’s due. Gameplay has definitely improved this year and I’m glad they added AI generated face scans. It shows they are listening and making progress. But there are still so many missing features that fans have been asking for.
We all know HUT and microtransactions are always going to be their primary focus because that’s where the money goes. That’s fine, but if they ever want NHL to grow beyond a niche sports title, they need to expand. A PC launch, ultimate customization, deeper offline modes, and franchise immersion would pull in way more players.
The problem is if they add all those features under the current model, a lot of people would just buy once, customize rosters, and never spend again. That’s where a subscription makes sense. It safeguards EA’s revenue stream while giving players a reason to stay subscribed as the game evolves with new content, real-time updates, and off-season events.
So yeah, I’m glad the series is moving forward, but NHL is still behind Madden and EAFC in terms of depth and reach. If they really want to break through, this is the path.
