EA Sports PGA Tour now has a release date and shows everything it brings to the green

EA Sports has revealed the release date and all the details about its upcoming sports title EA Sports PGA Tour; a game with which they return to bring players the experience of playing golf in the most important golf tournaments and courses in the world, seeking to fulfill two objectives: the fantasy of playing in the best events in the best courses and bring the golf championships with the greatest authenticity. Meristation had the opportunity to go through the details of this Frostbite-powered next-gen title.

PGA Tour Pillars

7 years have passed since EA Sports released their last golf game, and they have taken their time to rethink and prepare a title that lives up to their fans' expectations. As part of the presentation, they showed what they established as their four pillars to bring the best of championship golf. Let's take a look at them:

The road to the Masters

The Majors are the most important tournaments for golfers and fans of the sport, and fulfilling one of the most requested aspects by fans, EA Sports brings exclusively to the game the 4 most important Majors tournaments: PGA Championship, US Open, The Open, and The Masters. Along with these tournaments, other events of the PGA circuit are also included, such as the FedEx Cup Playoffs, The Amundi Evian Championship, or THE PLAYERS Championship.

As can be expected from a sports title, the presentation of each of these tournaments is loaded with impressive shots that show off the visual work done on each of the courses. A robust visuals package is promised, as well as commentary from the narrators for each tournament. This will help players get deeper into the competitions.

Full screen

Exclusive Courses

This sport is unique because each golf course is different, with diverse levels of challenges and difficulties throughout the holes. On this opportunity, EA Sports worked to deliver a total of 30 golf courses at launch, all recreated with amazing fidelity thanks to the Frostbite graphics engine, perfectly harnessing next-generation consoles and PCs.

The developers sought to bring the most meticulous details of these golf courses, so part of the work was done with the help of former geologists to map each golf course with cutting-edge technology, from drones, GPS, and photography, to helicopters with special lasers to search for gold and more. There are important and iconic golf courses that die-hard fans of the sport will surely recognize, such as the Old Course at St Andrews, one of the oldest golf courses in Scotland.

Full screen

And detailed players

The visuals are not limited to just the courses. The PGA and LPGA Pros are also highly detailed, with the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Nelly Korda, current global #1s. Players can play either as or against these golf pros, with a meticulous level of detail from their poses to the muscles in their faces. During the presentation, it was mentioned that capturing these pros was a challenge due to the pandemic, but was achieved thanks to the bubble made during the PGA Tour.

Along with this, the game boasts a large number of brands with which it has the partnership to (virtually) dress the professionals that appear in the game. All clothing and accessories, from caps to golf clubs, will feature one of these brands and will be scanned to show as much detail as possible.

Authentic gameplay

EA Sports knows that PGA Tour is a video game, and must have accessible and easy-to-learn mechanics, but also seeks realism. This is why PureStrike technology was developed, allowing it to deliver a more authentic and immersive game experience by using data sources such as Shotlink and TackMan to guarantee millimetric precision in the behavior of the ball after each stroke.

But what does PureStrike do? This technology provides unique golf swings with realistic results on every shot. In addition to selecting the right golf club, this allows you to choose from 20 different types of shots, generating a huge number of possibilities on the course. In addition, the redesign of the ball behavior, allows it to move more realistically along the different conditions found on a golf course, such as wind, and different types of grass, among others. This also adds to the work carried out on the virtualization of these courses, making the bouncing experience on a course in Scotland totally different from that of the coasts in the United States.

Full screen

A career on your own terms

It can't be a sports game without a career mode. Here EA Sports seeks to provide PGA Tour players with a game mode that not only presents an authentic gaming experience, but also gives the player meaningful choices on a path that will take them all the way to the big tournaments, choosing where to start, from amateur to professional.

The progress is carried through menus that aim to be simple and straightforward, being able to see the stats and achievements. As we progress, we will be able to make a side-by-side comparison of the golf courses in which we will participate and how our character matches and choose when and how to play them.

Full screen

See you at the Tee Box

As we mentioned, EA Sports PGA Tour already has a release date, arriving on March 24, 2023, on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC. As we can expect, and aligned with other Electronic Arts sports titles, this title will have two different editions, the Standard edition and the Digital Deluxe edition, the pre-sale of the game starts today, with these versions including pre-sale bonuses.

In the future, we can expect a series of updates that will be integrated into the game related to the major tournaments that the game is licensed to play. These updates will also include new challenges, golf courses, online tournaments, and equipment for players.