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Re: Will NHL 21 Come Out For PC?

You don't need to do an extensive search to find out there is interest for this game on PC. 140 000 views on youtube for a roster update of NHL 2004 on PC. If that doesn't sound like people being desperate for NHL on PC i don't know what is. We're talking about a 16 year old game still having that kind of following just because there's no alternative. You don't see more people asking around because most of us gave up the idea of a new NHL game on PC.

This and the fact community managers keep deleting everything that point at them for why people lost interest in their PC version in the first place. Reason being they ported the * NHL PS2 version 4 years in a row while console users had all the fun with the new gameplay and next gen stickhandling and all that stuff.. They'll probably delete that too because they don't like the truth. 

12 Replies

  • EA_Aljo's avatar
    EA_Aljo
    Icon for Community Manager rankCommunity Manager
    6 years ago

    @M2xim 

    When did that video go up? I looked for it, but couldn't find it. Obviously there's a passionate community of PC players. Should we see it grow, I'm sure there will be more interest in creating a PC version.

    We aren't deleting posts about a PC version. Unless it breaks the rules of the forums.

  • @M2xim Exactly and people saying that there isn't enough interest don't consider this. They keep mentioning petitions like that is the go to place for statistics..

    Anyway the thing is that people are talking like a PC port is impossible and why not use Origin for selling digital copies only for PC then? and let people play with Xbox One Controllers like they already do to play sports games..

    The market needs to be re-discovered as it is pretty much forgotten but EA used to release NHL games on PC every year and that was many years ago and now the PC market is even bigger.

    It's time for this franchise to include all their fans like they once did.
  • TTZ_Dipsy's avatar
    TTZ_Dipsy
    Hero+
    6 years ago

    @FoxFerocity 

    You need to consider console players also clicking on the video to see updates to the roster and I'm sure it wasn't 140k unique people clicking on the video. 

    Nobody is saying a PC port is impossible; it's just not currently worth the investment. EA doesn't have the monopoly either so if it really is that viable, why hasn't a different company made one?

  • Knuten21's avatar
    Knuten21
    Rising Traveler
    6 years ago

    Please release NHL 21 PC version.
    I have been a fan of the NHL series since the late 90’s, however I always used to buy the PC version of the game.
    After year 2008/9 I was forced to buy a PlayStation to be able to play the game.
    Please bring back this game for PC!

  • apparently you should not wait for the PC port and you have to buy a console

  • @belykhdm Don't forget- $60 a year to play online.
    $300 console + $60 game + $60 for online = $420 (before tax) for one year! What a bargain!
  • Knuten21's avatar
    Knuten21
    Rising Traveler
    6 years ago

    One thing is for certain tough, I will never buy a Playstation 5 just to play a new EA’s NHL game.
    As soon as the new Gen is released (I think PS5 Is set to be released in Nov/Dec) I’m done. After 23 years I’m done.

    It’s just not realistic or fun anymore, for example like this year’s version and in 19 I have been playing HUT, and I’m really trying to enjoy it, but the fact of the matter is, that I don’t.
    Sports gaming shouldn’t just bee about online gaming and desperately trying to get an 99 OVR Matthews card.

    Ok that was a little “off topic”

    So, back to the topic of his thread: It’s often claimed that the popularity and the community of EA’s NHL series and hockey in general is not big enough worldwide to justify a PC version release and that a PC version would not be profitable enough for EA (at least this is rumored to be the reason for non PC release among the fans).
    Well, a game like Madden have now been released for PC, how can an AM-football game like Madden be released on PC and NHL not?
    In Europe nobody even knows anything about AM-football, there is no fanbase or community for AM-football in Europe. So why not release NHL on PC? I just don’t get it.

    (PS: Moderator, please don’t delete my post, the first lines in this post may be a little “of topic” but the rest should be ok)

  • TTZ_Dipsy's avatar
    TTZ_Dipsy
    Hero+
    6 years ago

    @Knuten21 

    Gotta consider Esports wasn't around when the offline hockey games were running wild; a 99 Matthews is very important in today's market and EA caters to this quite well. If people stopped buying packs like sheep you would get your offline utopia.

    Simply put, American football is more popular than hockey overall and sells more so a PC release is justified

    Americans go insane for football the same way Europeans do for soccer

  • Knuten21's avatar
    Knuten21
    Rising Traveler
    6 years ago

    @TTZ_Dipsy

    I have played EA sports NHL since the mid 90’s, and none of the games back then had an online feature, only NHL98 and 99 had an online feature, but nobody cared anyway because the internet capacity was crap back then.


    I know that EA sports earn more revenue on HUT then what they do by selling copies of the actual game. Besides, introducing the game to PC gamers would at least open up the game to a whole new market. The last time NHL was released for PC was in 2008, the PC gaming community have exploded since then. It can also generate even more revenue by introducing the game to new PC gamers, more HUT packs and more revenue for EA.


    Regarding the popularity of the sport it doesn’t justify if the game should be released on PC or not.
    Ice hockey is the national sport in Canada, in the US only AM Football and basketball is bigger and ice hockey is growing momentum.
    Here in Europe Ice hockey is popular in Sweden, Finland, Czech and Slovak Republic, Switzerland, Latvia and Russia. And a country like Germany is slowly starting to grow momentum for the sport.

    And by the way, I’m not from any of the country’s mentioned above, I come from a European country in which Ice hockey is a very minor sport, so there are players from other European country’s as well.


    The way I understand programming is that the games are programmed and coded on a computer, then ported for the consoles PS and XB. It wouldn’t take EA great resources to port the game to PC, It shouldn’t be any problem for them to do that.


    Just port the game for PC, make it available on EA website and STEAM (No physical copy, online DL only)

  • EA_Aljo's avatar
    EA_Aljo
    Icon for Community Manager rankCommunity Manager
    6 years ago

    @Knuten21 

    I understand this seems like it should be easy to do, but the reality is that it's not. If it were, it would have been done. Hopefully, we'll have a PC version someday. At this time, I don't have any details on that.

  • I don’t understand why there isn’t at least a every other year NHL release??  Why?  Hockey isn’t as popular?  But it makes the best gameplay.  So make the damn game.  

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