After an eight-year absence, EA Sports’ “PGA Tour” will make its return on March 24.
Three members of the game’s development team—David Baker, Craig Penner, and Ben Ramsour—offered a preview of what’s to come during an hour-long media call last week, showing off character models, the official course list and gameplay.
“Golf is incredibly popular right now,” Ramsour said. “And there were insights that said people were eager for an EA game to come back.”
The presentation leaned heavily on the game’s official licensing of all four major championships and the power of its Frostbite engine.
EA has partnered with Augusta National, the USGA, the R&A, the PGA of America, the PGA Tour and the LPGA to present recreations of the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open, PGA Championship, Ryder Cup, Players Championship, FedExCup, Evian Championship, U.S. Amateur, Amateur Championship, Latin America Amateur Championship, Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and a slew of regular-season Tour events.
At launch, the game will feature a list of 30 real-world courses, including Augusta National, St. Andrews, Pebble Beach, The Country Club (Brookline), Southern Hills, TPC Sawgrass, Evian Resort, East Lake, Wilmington Country Club, TPC Boston, TPC Southwind, Casa de Campo’s Teeth of the Dog, TPC Scottsdale, Tara Iti, Whistling Straits, the Ocean Course at Kiawah, Chambers Bay, Wolf Creek, Liberty National, Bay Hill, Riviera, PGA West, Quail Hollow, Torrey Pines, Banff Springs, Top of the Rock, Bandon Dunes and Harbour Town. At least five more 2023 venues—Oak Hill, Los Angeles Country Club, Royal Liverpool, Olympia Fields, and Marco Simone—will be added post-launch.
Per Ramsour, EA used everything from Lidar and photography to drones and consultations with course superintendents to produce a previously unprecedented level of detail for a golf simulation. Augusta National even granted the studio access to its agronomic software, allowing the development team to recreate the Masters’ famous surroundings plant for plant, tree for tree.
As for gameplay, the Road to the Masters career mode appears similar to what gamers have come to expect. You’ll build your character’s skills over time and spend virtual currency on all the latest equipment and apparel from the top manufacturers.
Instead, EA’s innovations come from the integration of ShotLink and TrackMan data and the studio’s course-mapping technology. The producers promise that burnt fescue of St. Andrews will offer a markedly different experience than the spongy bermuda of Casa de Campo, and that expanded shot types will make for richer, more-diverse gameplay from player to player.
Aside from the career mode, EA is offering both ranked and unranked online play, private matches with friends, frequently updated challenge modes, and—perhaps most interesting for players who have grown accustomed to the online societies of the rival “PGA Tour 2K”-limited-time tournaments with global leaderboards and ranking points. Of particular note, the game’s online servers support up to 16 simultaneous players competing at the same time on the same hole, allowing you to watch your competition in real time.
The studio will unveil additional details in the run-up to the game, but what it has shown off so far is visually impressive. After an extended absence, EA looks to be back in a big way, setting a new bar for what a next-gen golf game should look like.
“PGA Tour” will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S|X, and PC. The standard version of the game will retail for $69.99, with a Deluxe Edition available for $84.99.
