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Big Games of 2010: Tiger Woods PGA TOUR Online

EA Sports introduces new online golf PC game featuring Tiger Woods amidst the public apology
Article | 02.19.10 | By John Gaudiosi
Tiger Woods Online is a big game of 2010

EA Sports has stood by since Tiger Woods’ infidelity turned him into a tabloid sensation. The game publisher has a new golf game featuring the world's best golfer that promises to be one of the big games of 2010. On the day that Woods made a public apology to his family and friends from the clubhouse at the TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., home of the PGA Tour, EA Sports President Peter Moore reacted to the apology.

 
"It was good to see Tiger address the public today, and we're supportive of his focus toward family and rebuilding his life,” said Moore. “He remains one of the greatest athletes in history, and as a long-standing partner, we look forward to seeing Tiger back on the golf course when the time is right for him and his family."
 
Tiger has helped EA Sports sell over 25 million videogames since partnering with the game publisher in 1999. This summer, EA Sports is releasing a new browser-based PC game, Tiger Woods Online, as well as new console versions of Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 11 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and PSP. With Tiger taking an extended break from the PGA Tour to re-enter rehab, golf fans will only be able to see Tiger in videogames this year. But PC gamers can play online golf right now in the new open beta.
 
Greg Rinaldi, producer of Tiger Woods Online, said that EA Sports has had over 70,000 participants from 117 countries try the closed beta version of the new subscription-based online game over the course of eight months. During that time, over 110,000 rounds of virtual golf were played each month.
 
“At the end of the eight months, we had about half a million rounds of golf completed, which is a pretty good stress test for us,” said Rinaldi. “The average that we got was about 13 rounds per month that people were playing. Some people would sit there and play an entire round in one sitting, or play two or three rounds in one sitting. Other people would take a day or two to finish one round because of the ability to just suspend and resume.”
 

Rinaldi said one of the goals from early on was to play anytime/anywhere, which means that if someone has two or three minutes to play the game, he can just hop on and finish off a hole, and then come back later.
 
“When we looked at the age group, we saw that about 75% of the people that signed up to play the beta were over 34,” said Rinaldi. “What was even more interesting is that 20% of the people who played were actually over 55. Our goal is to really reach new markets and to reach new audiences. I think once we start going into 45 and 55 and older, that really does begin to open up to an audience that goes beyond our traditional Xbox, PS3 and Wii audiences.”
 
Rinaldi said that 90% of the people who played in the closed beta actually play golf in real life, as well.
 
“We’ve often wondered, do we have gamers that like golf, or do we have golfers that like games?” said Rinaldi. “From what we’re seeing most of the people have at one point or another in their life swung a golf club, which bodes well for us in terms of focusing on authenticity and really recreating what it feels like to stand on a golf course and then play.”
 
EA Sports also learned that almost half of Tiger Woods Online players played the game while multitasking, whether it was browsing the Internet, doing work, or checking e-mail. Unlike console games, including Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10, a lot of online players don’t focus only on the game experience.
 
The fact that Tiger Woods Online is a browser-based game did not take anything away from the gaming experience, according to closed beta players. Rinaldi said 95% of the people that we polled really liked the way the game looked.
 
“We think is an overwhelmingly positive response, but the key to that is that it is still a browser game,” said Rinaldi. “I think what ends up happening when you play Tiger Woods Online is very quickly you forget that you didn’t download anything, you didn’t install anything, you didn’t do anything. You just literally clicked on a website, and now you’re playing a full-on, console-quality experience.”
 
Once EA launches the new online game, players will have multiple tiers of subscription to play the game. This pricing will include additional content that the development team will add on a regular basis to expand the game with new courses, players and other content. EA Sports will also host tournaments and other events to build the online community.
 
While the future of real Tiger on the links remains a large question mark, golf fans and gamers have plenty of new Tiger Woods to experience across all gaming platforms starting this summer.

 

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