Originally slated for “Spring 2022”, EA’s return to the PGA Tour will now release in “Spring 2023” instead.
For a very long time, EA made the officially-licensed PGA Tour games. After the first couple of numbered sequels in the early 90s, they dropped into a yearly naming system – PGA Tour 96, 97, etc – just like FIFA.
Then Tiger Woods became the biggest sports star on the planet, and from Tiger Woods 99 PGA Tour through to Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14, the series took after Madden’s monolithic personality approach.
Tiger suffered, erm, a fall from grace, and was replaced as the cover star by the very talented but not very interesting Rory McIlroy. And then EA’s PGA Tour games just stopped being made altogether after Rory’s first cover outing.
Fast forward seven years, and EA’s re-entry into the world of golf – just EA Sports PGA Tour, no cover star – was originally slated for a “Spring 2022” release, presumably to tie in with the return of the Augusta Masters to the game’s tournament roster and the tournament’s usual Spring slot on the Tour calendar. (The Masters hasn’t featured in a golf video game since Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14, and EA Sports PGA Tour is the first time all four majors will feature in a game since then.)
The latest news, however, is that EA Sports PGA Tour will be delayed to “Spring 2023”.
Experience the next generation of championship golf 🏌️🎮
Coming Spring 2023 🗓️ pic.twitter.com/4UNdgFoGiL
— EA SPORTS PGA TOUR (@EASPORTSPGATOUR) March 22, 2022
Presumably, they’re still targeting that Masters weekend – just next year, instead – to maximise the PR coup of bringing the Green Jacket back to the series.
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