Why a new release every year?

[Hasa92]

Why doesn't EA just make a single NHL game (or any other sports game for that matter) and keep updating and polishing that one for the years to come instead of what they are doing right now?

This would be a much better idea hence it would result in a much more complete and polished game rather than the broken version we have this year and pretty much every year prior? EA would make just the same amount of money with HUT and DLC's, DLC's that could have other leagues and tournaments or historic seasons/ teams? Or simply have a 10$ for a specific years roster..?

Infact you would probably make more money since more people would buy the game in the end for it simply being much more complete and polished game than what we currently have. I'm not trying to mock the game or the dev's but this is a serious question has EA ever given this kind of approach to sports games any consideration prior?

I'm a long time hockey fan and EA NHL gamer, have been since NHL 07. I just wan't a perfect hockey game and while the current games are decent they are far from what they could be with todays consoles.

[EA_Barry]

@Hasa92

Interesting, so...maybe like a subscription service?

I think we do need to take into consideration that physical boxed copies (as opposed to downloads) are still important.

[Hasa92]

It doesn't mean you couldn't sell the physical boxed copies as well, you could release a new physical copy every year and that would include the base game + all the rosters & dlc's of the specific year it was bought, the physical version would of course look just like the current NHL games having the year and a cover player in the front.

Obviously that wouldn't justify the full 60-70€ price of a full game but it also doesn't take as many employees since you wouldn't need as much staff to create that meaning EA would probably not lose any money, in fact it would probably sell more since the price would be lower and the end product be better as well.

People that aren't needed to maintain the base game (rosters, face-scanning new athletes, new jerseys logos etc) could be assigned to create the additional content such as new game modes or historic hockey events. 

From the top of my mind:

-Soviet Union era 

-Original Six teams

-Olympics

-World Cup of Hockey/ Canada Cup

-Euro leagues (More in depth than what we currently have, the ability to play in Europe as your be a pro or in franchise mode)

-Different commentators/ presentation stuff

I know a subscription services and are not that found of among gamers but with sports games i think they would be a better option than creating a new game every year, this would allow the dev's to not only to actually fix the problems that they weren't able to fix because they only had 1 year to make the game but also keep adding content all the time. Even if you would succeed at including every single gamemode, jersey, league, team, player, coach, stick, skate etc. etc. New athletes will always come to NHL and thus upgrading to the yearly roster is a must to the majority of players giving EA a steady income. Also gamers that are introduced to the game will get a dlc pack of their favourite team or era or whatever as long as they are advertised well enough and kept updated for the years to come.

Obviously you can't just skip the next few years of releasing sports games but what about starting to develop another NHL game on the side that would take a few years to be completed but it would be a pretty good timing since the next console generation is also probably just 2-5 years away, having an next level NHL game and maybe a FIFA & Madden as well would be perfect launch titles for the next level consoles.

[Hasa92]

And sorry for the typos & grammatical errors, English is not y first language. 

[younever_know8]

Basically do what Rocket League is doing. It makes even more sense with actual licensed sports. The "seasons" in Rocket League would translate to literal sports seasons with NHL/NFL etc..

Also you should also follow Rocket League's lead and bring the games to PC .

[Hasa92]

Pretty much yeah. And yup i agree, NHL should come back for PC. xD

[Killerskillet]

Sounds like everyone wants the game on PC, probably because it's the world's most ubiquitous platform. What's the latest on that, Barry?

[BeloglazovOleg]

soon .... subscribe method