Why are there no American Football PC games any more?

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destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
28,799
359
126
There isn't much market for American Football games on PC. That's not the NFL or EA's fault. If there was a market, EA would sell to it.

I think that's the only part of your post that is the truth.

I think the game models work fine for gameplay - frankly, I don't enjoy sports video games much at all, but I'd rather play NCAA than FIFA in a heartbeat. I tend to more enjoy Sony's MLB The Show because of the Road to the Show feature, which makes for a more interesting gameplay model.


That said - you are right about the demographic difference.

Look at the current state of the "Bro" community, as one example, where console gaming has developed into a massive cultural phenomenon. It's in the same mind-share as fantasy leagues and whatnot. Me and my buddies kind of inhabit that spectrum still, but we all grew up with computers and are split PC and consoles... but hell, I still haven't bought a current-gen console.

The annual titles have always sold far more strongly on consoles. It's just what it is. In college, while I played the COD games on PC, all my buddies played it on 360.
In fact, I don't think I have ever seen someone play a sports game on PC, at least one that wasn't about racing. The dominant culture is console sports and the next annual refresh of all competitive games, which as of the last 5+ years is now strongly focused on a particular FPS formula as well as the usual sports games.

Sports games just don't sell on the PC because there was never really a strong market for them in the first place. While FPS games are an even bigger pay day on consoles than sports games anymore, we PC gamers do at least benefit due to the fact that competitive FPS games were always a large part of the gaming community. Sometimes these games are still taking the backseat to the console version development, but at least there's enough of a marketshare to support good development. The sports games... well, the fear is likely that it would cost more to develop and support those games than they would get back in revenue.

This is a PC technical forum so people tend to not see the differences between most of the consumer market and the market we inhabit (as a general rule of thumb, of course; there are plenty of exceptions).
 

TeknoBug

Platinum Member
Oct 2, 2013
2,084
31
91
I still have Madden 08 and occasionally play it on my PC, used to have Madden 04 on my laptop with updated rosters and that served me for years.
 

Red Storm

Lifer
Oct 2, 2005
14,233
234
106
I'd buy it today if they released Madden 16 for PC. Eight years and counting since the last one.

Yep. I would definitely buy Madden if it came out for PC (and was not a steaming pile of buggy and/or incomplete crap). I love sport games, but I'm not buying a multi hundred dollar console just to play 3 games (FIFA, NBA 2K, and Madden).
 

cripp7

Junior Member
Oct 21, 2012
5
0
0
The problem is not the NFL or EA, the greater question is why could not 2K Sports release a football game with totally made up teams and team names.
 

Sulaco

Diamond Member
Mar 28, 2003
3,860
44
91
The problem is not the NFL or EA, the greater question is why could not 2K Sports release a football game with totally made up teams and team names.

All-Pro_Football_2K8_(PS3).jpg