Why is there no competition for the NHL games?

[Smirnov2Chistov]

I believe I mentioned in the ‘Think Before you purchase NHL22’ thread that I find myself having a lot more fun playing retro NHL titles. I have been playing games like: the Faceoff series, NHL Championship 2000, and Blades of Steel on the PS1. It seemed like during the 90s era, especially with hockey games, you have a variety of options you could go with. Now, we are only stuck with one option.

is it just a simple answer as to companies no longer wanting to release something? As I’ve said before, 989s Faceoff Series is a lot more enjoyable than EAs playing as a retrospective.

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[Beville]

Well you obviously had the 2k series but that stopped probably about 10 years ago?

Since then, like you say, there’s no competition and that allows EA to be lazy. Which is a real shame, truth be told.

 

[Kranix]

I believe I mentioned in the ‘Think Before you purchase NHL22’ thread that I find myself having a lot more fun playing retro NHL titles. I have been playing games like: the Faceoff series, NHL Championship 2000, and Blades of Steel on the PS1. It seemed like during the 90s era, especially with hockey games, you have a variety of options you could go with. Now, we are only stuck with one option.

is it just a simple answer as to companies no longer wanting to release something? As I’ve said before, 989s Faceoff Series is a lot more enjoyable than EAs playing as a retrospective.

It costs too much these days to license the NHLPA and the teams.
EA is so big they can release a broken game for $80 every year and openly acknowledge the only game they've made that anyone remembers fondly is 1994

 

[Apex Predator]

Remember how awesome NHL 2004 was!

 

[Kranix]

NHL 2k5-2k8 were the best

 

[Puckstop40]

Just bring me back NHL Hitz

 

[CanmoreMike]

It costs too much these days to license the NHLPA and the teams.
EA is so big they can release a broken game for $80 every year and openly acknowledge the only game they've made that anyone remembers fondly is 1994

I loved NHL '97 on Sega Genesis.

Great memories.

 

[Kranix]

I loved NHL '97 on Sega Genesis.

Great memories.

97 on pc was my favorite

 

[CasusBelli]

Remember how awesome NHL 2004 was!

Biggest leap in the series. Just breathtaking for its time.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

Cos hockey is a niche sport getting increasingly niche-er. There isn't a big enough global market for it. It's not popular in China or the US or Brazil or even the bigger Western European countries.

Biggest leap in the series. Just breathtaking for its time.

Still is.

 

[CasusBelli]

Cos hockey is a niche sport getting increasingly niche-er. There isn't a big enough global market for it. It's not popular in China or the US or Brazil or even the bigger Western European countries.



Still is.

This guy gets it (both points).

 

[IHaveNoCreativity]

Biggest leap in the series. Just breathtaking for its time.

Hard to believe 18 years later that game is still the best ever made from EA’s stand point. How the hell did it go so wrong.

 

[CasusBelli]

Hard to believe 18 years later that game is still the best ever made from EA’s stand point. How the hell did it go so wrong.

The damn lockout. Killed all momentum hockey had. I don’t know if it will ever recover. Only now is it returning to ESPN … after, what, 16 years?

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

Biggest leap in the series. Just breathtaking for its time.

Hard to believe 18 years later that game is still the best ever made from EA’s stand point. How the hell did it go so wrong.

NHL 04 was seriously a step forward in a promising direction, even with Dynasty Mode. The fact that you could customize your office set up and ‘improve’ your staff was so unique. I still play it from time to time! I admit though Dynasty Mode becomes broken as the years go on

 

[IHaveNoCreativity]

NHL 04 was seriously a step forward in a promising direction, even with Dynasty Mode. The fact that you could customize your office set up and ‘improve’ your staff was so unique. I still play it from time to time! I admit though Dynasty Mode becomes broken as the years go on

It was amazing, and yea forsure it became broken but not as bad as the shit we had now.

teams actually used their upgrades, sure the trades weren’t great and the salaries was nuts and you could stack your easily but more playable than this.

I finished a 20 year run awhile back.

 

[Cup or Bust]

Unfortunately there isn't much competition for any sports games now. The PS1 and PS2 era was an amazing time for sports gamers. The amount of boxing, hockey, baseball, and football games at the time was amazing. What I liked the most was the variation in gameplay each game had, you could really find a game that suited how you wanted a game to play. For presentation and graphics EA was amazing but the thing I really liked about 2K was the gameplay was so customizable that if you were a person that liked a simulation style game with accurate stats, 2K was a great option. I am interested to see how NHL 22 looks and plays, not getting my hopes up though. I signed up for the technical test for PS5, I hope I get a chance to see if there is much of a change for NHL 22.

 

[ScottyK]

Small market cap....even if you somehow beat EA you're only selling about a million copies a year.

The biggest reason though is even though EA does not have a exclusive license to produce sim style NHL games...they do have a patent on the skill stick...good luck coming up with something as good or better than the SS

 

[DuckyGirard]

I personally think it'll change when VR hockey becomes a thing.

VR is a sleeper technology and is suffering from a very shallow number of games.

VR hockey would bring sports gaming to the next level.

 

[93LEAFS]

I believe I mentioned in the ‘Think Before you purchase NHL22’ thread that I find myself having a lot more fun playing retro NHL titles. I have been playing games like: the Faceoff series, NHL Championship 2000, and Blades of Steel on the PS1. It seemed like during the 90s era, especially with hockey games, you have a variety of options you could go with. Now, we are only stuck with one option.

is it just a simple answer as to companies no longer wanting to release something? As I’ve said before, 989s Faceoff Series is a lot more enjoyable than EAs playing as a retrospective.

Game development costs have risen at a rate that sales for NHL games haven't. If no one could justify making a serious competitor to The Show after MLB 2K discontinued to the extent MLB baseball had to get Sony to make a version for Microsoft, then it's highly unlikely the demand for a 2nd NHL game would be profitable.

 

[LukeSkywalker]

Not a big budget competitor but I was at least having fun as a part of a testing group of a game called PuckOff. Brings in mind the good old hockey games like NHL Hitz. It's coming out next year.

 

[John Price]

Not enough interest

There isn't even a monopoly, nobody else wants to make a hockey game lol

 

[NZ Hockey]

Well to be honest I think part of the problem is the very nature of sports games - releasing a new game every year. I mean, if Skyrim was released every year (insert joke here) with a small upgrade how many years go by before people get tired of rebuying it?

I think the business model for releasing sports games is forced (by way of roster updating) to release a new title each year. But were it not for the players changing constantly, is there really a need to have a new game EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR? No. Hockey doesn't change, just the rosters.

So in the end EA only gets a select number of fans to rebuy every season. I used to rebuy every 2-3, and just didn't think it was worth it to rebuy every year.

If they moved to a business model of having a game where the roster updates were like system upgrades on IOS/Windows and focused on releasing a new title, say, every 5 years, then I think there'd be more excitement every time a new title came out and it would be more revolutionary.

But can you blame EA? They release a $60-70 ($120 in NZ) game every year with minimal changes and people still keep buying it! What incentive is there for them to move to a more staggered release schedule where roster updates could hold fans over for a few seasons in between? None, not when this cash cow keeps bringing in dollars with little investment from the developer.

 

[EazyE1]

Because the NHL developers are in the basement smelling like rat piss while the madden programmers are up in the penthouse suite eating caviar

 

[Gonzothe7thDman]

I personally think it'll change when VR hockey becomes a thing.

VR is a sleeper technology and is suffering from a very shallow number of games.

VR hockey would bring sports gaming to the next level.

VR Pickup Hockey League is actually pretty fun. Still a ways to go before I'd call it a great game but its a good first step.

 

[Shad]

NHL 22 has taken a pretty big step. I’d give this one a chance