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.
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.
Being EA’s lowest-selling title isn’t an invitation to take big, costly risks — it’s the opposite. NHL doesn’t have Madden/FC’s cushion to survive a failed experiment. “Playing it safe” isn’t why NHL is small — it’s because hockey is a niche sport globally compared to soccer or football. No model change fixes that fundamental scale problem.
eah, 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.
Subscriptions aren’t “lazy thinking” — they’re a high-risk bet that only work at scale. FIFA and Madden thrive because they have millions of active users sustaining live services. NHL doesn’t. Without that size, a sub model risks rapid churn, leaving EA with fewer yearly sales and no sustainable subscription base.
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.
Offline immersion is nice, but it’s not a recurring revenue engine. Commentary depth, franchise drama, and customization don’t translate into monthly spend the way HUT packs do. EA isn’t ignoring those features out of laziness — they’re cutting them because they don’t drive revenue. Subscriptions won’t magically change that math.
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.
Comparing NHL to Sims or Battlefield misses the licensing issue. Mods work there because EA controls the IP. NHL involves the league, players’ association, and team brands — all tightly managed. Letting the modding community experiment with NHL assets introduces risks those licensors won’t tolerate, subscription or not.
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.
If the chart is only “illustrative,” then it doesn’t prove anything. A business case needs grounded projections based on NHL’s actual player base, not a generic bar graph that assumes “subs = more money.” Without hard data, it’s just wishful thinking dressed up as analysis.
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.
The “fantasy” isn’t $70 roster updates — it’s believing NHL can transform into a thriving live service ecosystem on par with FIFA or Madden. The sport’s niche audience caps its ceiling. The realistic path forward is improving gameplay, expanding to PC, and steadying the product — not chasing a risky subscription model that could sink it entirely.
