The Real Reason NHL 14 Isn't a Next-Gen Game - Wiggy's Blog

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The Real Reason NHL 14 Isn't a Next-Gen Game Stuck

Posted on July 30, 2013 at 07:12 PM.

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Business reality. That's the reason NHL 14 is taking the easy transition towards next-gen development. There is no financial reason the franchise should risk the modest gains it has made in this generation for some paltry sales on the new consoles.

The fact is that hockey is still a fledgling sport in many markets, even though it remains popular amongst its fanbase and within the videogame community. Larger franchises, like the dependable Madden and the global juggernaut FIFA, are natural fits for the next-generation right away, and fans of those franchises have shown a willingness (with their wallets) to buy multiple versions of these games, even when the improvement in graphical quality and gameplay is dubious.

Consulting VGChartz, we can see that Madden NFL 2006 sold approximately 600,000 units back at the launch of the Xbox 360, and that is seen as a reasonable return on investment for a launch product on a new system. The R&D money for the "real" next-gen game hadn't yet been brought to bear, and that reasonable total is added on to the cross-platform success that Madden enjoyed across Playstation 2, Xbox and several other platforms.

Comparatively, the NHL series from EA took the year off in the previous "next-gen" as well, and that led to the innovation of the skill stick and a reinvigoration of the brand. Still, that reinvigoration has only created a reasonable measure of success -- nothing close to the millions that FIFA enjoys on a yearly basis. Once again consulting VGChartz, we can see that NHL 13 is just now reaching one million sales (across all platforms), even though the franchise has been deemed "successful" for the last few years, In fact, looking at previous years, we can see that NHL 12 reached 1.16 million copies sold, and NHL 11 was 1.24 million copies.

It's hard to argue with the reality that the NHL franchise, as good as it is, just isn't a major player in the sports scene, certainly not compared to Madden, FIFA, NCAA or NBA 2K. When you have a franchise that is actually slightly dipping in sales when heading into the next generation, the safest bet is to make the money you can on the old technology while you can, and then make a measured investment towards the new platform over the course of a couple of years. Selling a million copies is still nothing to sneeze at, and one has to believe that it makes the franchise profitable, considering that the dev/marketing budget for the NHL series is likely south of $50 million per game (that's an educated guess on my part). Still, when you can get that many copies sold and augment that with pricey DLC cards and equipment upgrades, it turns a healthy profit for one of the smaller EA brands, which is a good buffer for the company's riskier ventures.

If NHL 14 were to attempt a launch on Xbox One and PS4, it just wouldn't have the brand loyalty or horsepower to really make an impact in other markets. The increase in budget required to make said next-gen hockey product wouldn't be worth EA's time, and it could possibly even hurt the brand by getting lost in the shuffle of prettier and flashier next-gen products, sports or otherwise. On top of this, the install base of the new consoles will be quite small for the first year or so, so you'd be asking upwards of one million people to plunk down on a new hockey game when maybe only 10 million are going to own a console during that year. This is a tough proposition when the franchise can barely scratch one million copies today with 150 million consoles in the market.

The silver lining of this delay is that an EA development studio with slightly less budget than the big boys at the company is able to get an extra year to think about what their franchise is really all about at this point. They will have to decide where the NHL series -- and, to a larger extent, hockey -- fits in with the modern-day sports videogame landscape. Where will the next innovations come for control and social functions? Will the graphics be able to hang with other contemporary sports brands? Will the digital future harm or hinder this brand?

These are all questions the team at EA Vancouver will have to answer in the next 12 months or so, but it's a luxury they should enjoy when other studios are having to rush to market with no room to breathe.

Comments

# 1 juicey79 @ Jul 30

A very enlightening read. I do hope Madden and 2K is a bit better on the next gen consoles this year. But honestly, the NHL angle into the market place may have done all our next gen sports game some good. The gamble of not delivering a strong product on the 1st iteration of next gen can cripple a franchise.

# 2 BaylorBearBryant @ Jul 30

Whatever makes the franchise better in the long run, I'm behind it 100%. If the development studio doesn't want to rush a next-gen game out and risk alienating it's true fan base, I'm totally cool with it.

I want what's best for this franchise. It is my favorite sports game EA makes. I'm from Texas and have never played hockey in my life, but I love the way this game works in Online Team Play.

If delaying a next-gen game until 2014 allows the game to develop, grow and improve financially and logistically, I'm cool with it. I'm still looking forward to NHL14 on PS3. That and GTAV are going to be the last great games on the console.

If you've never given an NHL game a shot, I strongly recommend it. EASHL is the future of sports gaming.

# 3 BCDX97 @ Jul 30

I love hockey and am fine with them waiting. I am in no rush to get a new system until I get a feel for how they are doing - NHL 15 going next gen next year will fit my time table just fine.

Madden 25 not coming out until November/December/Whenever for the next gen is gonna cause some people to go double dipping and some to skip the current gen version and having to wait anyway.

# 4 goalieump413 @ Jul 31

You also have to see this from another perspective. Games like Madden, FIFA, etc., as well as shooters, are being pulled in by Microsoft and Sony to help the immediate sell of the One and PS4. Without game titles, they'd sell fewer consoles, even during the Christmas blitz.

NHL14 wasn't as needed to help sell the consoles, since hockey is not as globally big as other sports and was not likely needed to fill stockings this Holiday season.

I agree that holding out until NHL15 for the nexgen experience is the wisest move, but what else would you expect from EA Canada. They've been making solid gameplay, design, and marketing choices about the NHL game series for a long time. The game, IMO, is the best EA Sports game on the shelf, and when you make a solid product, there's no need to go nuts.

# 5 13whitebread @ Jul 31

For the life of me I cannot understand why hockey is so far back from other sports. It is quite simply my favorite sport to play watch or video game. I am most excited that EA did wait till next year to really put more effort into the next gen. If the skill stick was introduced with waiting a year I am on board for waiting it was such a huge innovation. And if the sales numbers are slightly dipping i think this is a great sign the delvlopment team now knows they need to step it up and give the hard cores what we want. And with less restrictions they could really hit a home run with NHL 15. I do think that some bugs may occur and NHL 16 might be more of a complete package. But so excited for next gen!