Flashback to PGA Tour 12 | Up coming The Golf Club 2019 from HB Studios
2With the new licensee HB Studios, after EA lost the licesne , this year will see a new PGA Tour golf game but in the form of 'The Golf Club 2019'. http://www.hb-studios.com/
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 was the first in the series to feature Augusta National, and in turn attract a lot of new players.
Fast forward to the release of the game and while it was a solid game of golf, Rory McIlroy PGA Tour lacked in courses and in golfers. At its core, it was an enjoyable game but lacked longevity. The visuals ended up coming up short as the game also featured a poor frame rate. EA would work out bugs and eventually offer more courses, but the game consisted of maybe three noteworthy greens. Since a golf game had been released yearly for quite some time, many believed they would just build upon this solid ground. It turns out that licenses are needed for each individual course. It’s not like having the NFL or NBA license and you just have access to every team. The problem is that Augusta National cost a good bit of money, and clearly judging by the release of the game, EA wasn’t willing to invest.
Flash forward to 2018. Microtransactions are abundant, games are more open-world than ever and there is a significant need for a licensed PGA Tour game. The Golf Club will get players by, and Everybody’s Golf is fun, but both lack the presence of playing a full weekend of golf with friends at Augusta National. EA always did a good job of replicating the mood of being on the golf course. The crowd would get into the match and the music and lighting helped issue in a calm approach. This is all missing in today’s world. It has been three years and this franchise has been left in the dust with no signs of resurrection. It’s in the same bin as the Skate franchise and any NCAA sport you desire.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 featured motion controls for the first time.
Maybe its that golf lacks that true attraction that was Tiger Woods. In the eyes of EA, the sport might not be marketable enough. The company keeps taking chances with resurrecting NBA Live, but the games hurt in sales. A new PGA game would not be hurting in sales. There is still a community that plays Rory. Let’s not even get started with the possibility of VR golf, because that is a whole other possibility that EA hasn’t even experimented within the sports realm -- Watch live at https://www.twitch.tv/ackrosgliceas