The Rise of Online Gaming
by 
It wasn’t too long ago that online play was an afterthought when it came to sports games. Whether it be bare bones offerings, laggy performance, or disconnection issues there was not much time or effort being spent to make on making for great experience.
At the time the reasoning being given was that not enough people played online. Internal data showed that many who did go online would play only once or a couple times and then never again. That provided their justification for not spending the necessary resources to fix the issues or expand the options. Of course it could be argued that someone going online for the first time who experienced terrible lag, a disconnect at a critical time, or got cheesed to death would have their impression of online play soured for good. Many of those issues have been sufficiently addressed (save 2K and SCEA’s online performance) as the companies have recognized the potential and the demand related to online offerings.
However over the past two years we’ve seen drastic changes to online play and incredible growth as consumers make the jump online. Much of that is natural as broadband becomes more widely used and as people look for a different and more interactive experiences. But what has really driven things as of late has been the addition of two different modes by EA Sports. Online Team Play and Online Dynasty.
Online Team Play was introduced via patch to FIFA 08 and NBA Live 08 and shipped in NHL 08 and immediately caught on. NBA Live saw an activity increase of 400% attributed solely to OTP after it came out. That has now expanded to NHL 09 where the OTP has turned into more of an MMORPG with the EA Sports Hockey League. It is no coincidence that according to EA nearly 60% of NHL 09 owners play online. That is a large, impactful number. It was only about 5 years ago when Madden was drawing in well under 10% online. Worldwide FIFA 09 is selling at an extraordinary rate and its Online Team Play involving up to 20 different users is a big part of why.
EA Sports recent Champions of Gaming Tournament provides another look at how massive the online gaming presence is. Over 350,000 people participated in the tournament which is coming to a conclusion on February 3rd at UCF Arena and then being broadcast on Spike TV on February 18th.
All of this shows that when companies provide a reason to play online the consumers will respond favorably. Growth in the area will continue as it is obvious that the future of sports gaming will heavily rely on the online components of the games. And as we’ve seen that doesn’t necessarily mean head-to-head, but it can take an MMO direction as well as opportunities to mix the offline experience with online interaction as we’ve seen with Online Dynasty.
January 16, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Good article. EA really stepped up with the 09 games online wise and it looks like its paying off. Thats a good sign for the future.
January 16, 2009 at 9:04 pm
I have been playing solely online since the Dreamcast. I could never play a game against a CPU after that, it was miserable and boring as hell. I hate the OTP people are to retarded.
January 16, 2009 at 9:40 pm
All I do is play online. I say, whats the point of playing a drone, when you can play another human being? And Pasta, have you considered covering Pro Yakyuu?
January 16, 2009 at 10:01 pm
If EA were to include the online Be A Pro mode MMO style gameplay that is in NHL 09 into NCAA and Madden it would be amazing! Everyone would play and love it.
January 16, 2009 at 10:15 pm
and now we have to suffer from whatever game companies decide make for fair and fun online play over game quality
January 16, 2009 at 10:31 pm
I really think Fight Night Round 4 is going to add to this build in online play. I'd love to see a spectator mode or BAP mode like NHL 09 did. Spectator only seems natural for a boxing game.
January 16, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Now usually I don’t mind the EA bias on this site, afterall it is Pasta’s site but this is just basically propaganda. I seriously doubt team play attributes a 400% rise in the online community of a game. Have you even played 2k9 since the patch? Thought so.
I don’t really mind what logo is on the front of the game I’ll still play it but EA buying the Premier League and NFL rights for themselves just takes away from enjoyment I would’ve gotten from competing games like PES(which is still great) and NFL 2k. It basically bribes people into buying their games which I don’t like when there are other companies out there that could make a better game.
January 16, 2009 at 11:13 pm
Blah Blah Blah Pasta sucking up again.
January 17, 2009 at 4:23 am
I do not take kindly for someone impersonating me.
January 17, 2009 at 7:02 am
Que?
January 17, 2009 at 12:57 am
FIFA 09's online team play is a JOKE/
all the defence just runs up and attacks. nobody stays in their proper position.
January 17, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Who da heck wants to stand pat and play defense for 2 hours for a 0-0 game? Are you on drugs? You rush 10 guys against the other team's defense and hope that your goalie can handle the onslaught if you turn the ball over.
January 17, 2009 at 6:04 pm
um the games take about 10 minutes to play.
i like all aspects of the game and that inclues locking someone down and getting a turnover than distributing the ball upfield to the midfielders and strikers.
January 17, 2009 at 2:57 pm
I think developers put too much time into online gaming instead of focusing on perfecting the gameplay. I never play online, I prefer a challenge from the CPU….too many whiners online.
January 17, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Bingo, Online is what has ruined sports gaming.
January 17, 2009 at 5:14 pm
What a fruity picture you used.
January 17, 2009 at 5:16 pm
I think this entry is part of Pasta's contract with EA.
He needs to make 5 Pro EA entries a month.
Keep it up!
January 17, 2009 at 8:15 pm
I exclusively play online. Playing vs. the CPU is boring and tedious. Online players offer a new and interesting challenge every game. Some players are good, but then there's the stinkers as well.
January 17, 2009 at 10:31 pm
i agree with the above posters, online gaming has ruined games for me. It doesnt have to be that way, but thats the way it has turned out.
January 17, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Exactly its because now, we all must pay for the cheesers sins.
January 17, 2009 at 10:37 pm
it doesnt have to be when you play with people you know. plus that is one really good thing about ncaa online dynasty is you dont have to play head to head so you can avoid facing that for the most part. really without online i probably wouldnt be playing sports games much at all
January 19, 2009 at 3:35 pm
The focus of game companies has moved to online play, and that has all but ruined gaming for me. Companies spend so much time developing the online aspects of their games that the single player experience is almost always lacking, and the AI in sports games has been getting increasingly worse in recent years.
January 19, 2009 at 7:18 pm
its like people spread cheesing like a virus online. you see the same crap in every sport,especially basketball and football. I wish there was a way sim players can meet and match up with other sim players and weed out the cheese experience.