Older generations of both the PlayStation and Xbox consoles, more specifically the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are confirmed to be getting versions of NHL 24. This was confirmed by EA’s play test signup where it mentions you’re able to test the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of the game. There’s been a debate amongst the NHL gaming community as to if the company should continue making old gen versions of the game for another year of NHL. Today we’ll look at the argument for both sides.
The Future Is Now Old Man
The argument for EA not making older generation versions of NHL 24 may be one that many aren’t aware of. Most people think “If it can run on an older console, it can easily run on a newer console”. While this may be true, being forced to make two “iterations” of the game for each console generation actually affects the design elements, graphics, and performance of games. If a design team is forced to work on “low tier/old gen” and “high tier/new gen” versions of a game rather than a high tier version, their resources are cut in half.
Imagine how much better a development team could make a game if they were able to solely focus on one game generation. Both the PS4 and Xbox One came out in November 2023, almost ten years ago. Think of the technological advances made in the last ten years in gaming. Now think of the EA NHL dev team being able to take advantage of those technological advances instead of being held back by old-generation console technology. Think about the last console generation leap, from PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Remember how much better the games looked and how much faster they loaded? If a company were able to put all their effort into making “one generation” of games, they’d be able to produce results like this.
Old Gen Matters
Now hold on just a minute, before you start petitioning for EA to kill off old gen versions, there are a few reasons why old-gen is still around. For starters, around 20% to 30% of the NHL player base is still on old gen. To completely eliminate 30% of player's chances at even playing a new NHL game would be a shock, as some may not be able to afford the switch to next-gen yet. To harm this segment of the player base would have a negative impact on an already easily agitated fan base. NHL is a 14+ game, and there are many fans around this age, and some even younger who love playing video game hockey but can’t afford to make the switch yet. Not to mention the last time we saw a generation leap (NHL 16 and NHL Legacy) fans hated both games, so this may also be a reason why EA is so hesitant on removing the old generation entirely.
That 30% of the player base also represents significant dollars for EA Sports. While some of those people aren’t able to spend $400+ to switch console generations, they can afford to pay $70-$80 on a game. Removing the old-gen versions of NHL 24 would remove a considerable amount of revenue dollars for EA on an already niche sports video game. NHL is ranked 7th out of the top 10 most popular sports video games according to RookieRoad, and removing 30% of that player base would likely drop it outside of the top 10. While it may not be easy to sympathize with such a large company like EA losing 30% of its revenue for one game, any business owner, CEO, or entrepreneur reading this would definitely panic at the thought of losing 30% of one revenue stream.
In the end, it doesn’t really matter what side of the argument you’re on, unless you work for EA Sports. They’re the ones who make the ultimate decisions, and until a large segment (likely 85%+) of their player base is on next-gen, we can continue to see old-gen versions of NHL being released.