No one is playing this game
I don’t hold Steam to be the be all and end all of game usage, but it is a reliable source of truth. 115 people playing in steam right now. finding online players is getting much more difficult...
Forum Discussion
@ELF014 My guess on some devs leaving leans more toward they probably weren't going to be able to implement what they wanted. As in "we can do this, this and this, it'll take X amount of programmer hours and testing" Management then says sorry not in the budget, don't have the programmer manpower or just not interested.
It really looks like EA made the game for casual/arcade golfers. One look at 2K's societies and TGCTours 2K23 site should have told EA there IS a large demand for a realistic golf game, with multiplayer capabilities AND there needs to be a way for all these players to meet up to do it. Heck HB/2K worked with TGCTours to create an API for them.
We shall see just how committed EA is to this game over the next 6 months.
It really looks like EA made the game for casual/arcade golfers. One look at 2K's societies and TGCTours 2K23 site should have told EA there IS a large demand for a realistic golf game, with multiplayer capabilities AND there needs to be a way for all these players to meet up to do it. Heck HB/2K worked with TGCTours to create an API for them.
We shall see just how committed EA is to this game over the next 6 months.
@SamA329 wrote:
@ELF014My guess on some devs leaving leans more toward they probably weren't going to be able to implement what they wanted. As in "we can do this, this and this, it'll take X amount of programmer hours and testing" Management then says sorry not in the budget, don't have the programmer manpower or just not interested.
It really looks like EA made the game for casual/arcade golfers. One look at 2K's societies and TGCTours 2K23 site should have told EA there IS a large demand for a realistic golf game, with multiplayer capabilities AND there needs to be a way for all these players to meet up to do it. Heck HB/2K worked with TGCTours to create an API for them.
We shall see just how committed EA is to this game over the next 6 months.
I couldn't agree more with you as far as 2K showing EA where the strength of their game was... and EA chose to ignore it because they somehow knew better.
EA couldn't even reach the level of their previous release from 9 years ago. I never played Rory... and have only seen video content from it, but at least they had caddies that would tend a flag when needed.
If they had nothing but upgraded the graphics from that game, I'm not sure if the current one is any better. That is how weak the current effort feels to me.
Absolutely agree with this game is DOA. The last great EA golf game was TW14. Even though 2K23 is no TW14, 2k23 is blowing the current game out of the water. The same trend happened with NBA Live 19 against NBA 2K19. If gameplay is not improve in next patch, this series is DOA and current game might be the last EA golf game. I am guessing EA has conceded the golf genre to 2K like it did with Basketball. That is possible reason game is now selling for $10 and no investment in improvements is made. The investment has been more focused on Madden, EA FC, NHL and UFC.
I think Patel leaving is likely tied to him seeing that EA wasn’t interested in making the great golf game he knows is possible with the tech now.
It honestly has made me pretty excited for the next 2K golf game
@BuckHasTheBook wrote:I think Patel leaving is likely tied to him seeing that EA wasn’t interested in making the great golf game he knows is possible with the tech now.
It honestly has made me pretty excited for the next 2K golf game
Looks like I will be joining the bandwagon.
Okay... I was finally able to talk my regulars to try ALT last night. I heard nothing but complaints and how terrible the game was for 18 holes.
We played a links course which I knew was a bad idea.
The fairways seem to play faster than the greens. We had the winds up to 20 mph to allow for some challenge... and as we always do play under the SIM presets.
Hate that there is a swing meter and green grid on the setting.
I tried to embrace the game... but I had to agree the experience was not very good.
I will admit though that EA's worm cam is miles ahead of what 2K is using and I don't know why it is taking 2K so long to address it.
I'm guessing because 90% of all players are playing at a PRO level.
But back to EA, after last night I doubt I will be able to ever get them to play it again. It looks like EA just doesn't get the concept that you only get one chance to make a first impression. And in most cases you only get one chance at redemption.
After almost a decade you had a chance to put a fresh face on this franchise... after 8 patches it doesn't look like you are looking for redemption. That what you released on day one is what we can expect moving forward. That what we see is all we are going to get.
I guess I am more of an optimist than I thought, someone needs to wake up and smell the roses... and that person is me.
- @PalomaMarvel24 Me too
Never thought I'd say that, as I've not loved the TGC/2K games for the most part, but I expect the next iteration to be a big big update. - @BuckHasTheBook I've played all the HB/2K golf since The Golf Club. Is 2K23 perfect? No, but more a more enjoyable multiplayer experience.
- @ELF014 For the past 13 years I've been part of a group of about 10 guys who get together every Fri night to play golf games. We're all playing on PC. We've gone from Custom Play Golf, CPG2, WGC2011, all the HB/2K games, Perfect Golf. Currently play 2K23 most of the time.
Only 4 of us got EA PGA golf. 1 got a refund after an hour, 1 played for a couple weeks, 1 plays now and then, I'm the only one playing it regularly. And I stopped most of the summer cause I maxed out my XP level and nothing in the store was worth the time. All the others just refuse to buy it even on sale. If die hard golf junkies (we all play in real life as well) won't buy it , that says something. Plus that 7 of them have been designing courses since the days of Jack Nicklaus Golf in the 90's so no designer turns them off as well.
Let's hope EA decides to put some effort into their game but I'm not optimistic based on what they've shown so far.
@SamA329 wrote:
@ELF014For the past 13 years I've been part of a group of about 10 guys who get together every Fri night to play golf games. We're all playing on PC. We've gone from Custom Play Golf, CPG2, WGC2011, all the HB/2K games, Perfect Golf. Currently play 2K23 most of the time.
Only 4 of us got EA PGA golf. 1 got a refund after an hour, 1 played for a couple weeks, 1 plays now and then, I'm the only one playing it regularly. And I stopped most of the summer cause I maxed out my XP level and nothing in the store was worth the time. All the others just refuse to buy it even on sale. If die hard golf junkies (we all play in real life as well) won't buy it , that says something. Plus that 7 of them have been designing courses since the days of Jack Nicklaus Golf in the 90's so no designer turns them off as well.
Let's hope EA decides to put some effort into their game but I'm not optimistic based on what they've shown so far.I'm with you...
I stopped playing video games for decades... life got in the way. But when "The Golf Club" came out in 2014 a friend and I decided it might be a good way to spend some time.
We played regularly, 4 or 5 times a week. We upgraded through each version of the game and continued playing at pretty much the same rate even after he moved a few thousand miles away.
We picked up a few playing partners and now are a rotating crew of 6 or so players getting together a few times a week for teamplay... usually ALT.
With 2K we play at MASTER/LEGEND level with everything disabled except the wind meter. EA doesn't let us turn things off like the reticule, swing meter, putting grids, etc...
No one in my group likes the EA game, they don't feel it represents golf as a sport very well. They all appreciate the graphics but that is about it.
EA without skill points or specs, at the most difficult settings is not a very challenging game. Even with all the RNG built-in you can manage your way around the course.
The LINKS courses have a ridiculous amount of roll out, the greens all roll ridiculously slow.
I personally do like the swing animation for EA over 2K, my playing partners in general think 2K's is better. I think EA's could be a bit quicker, but that 2K's is way too fast.
But to your point, EA PGA Tour has lost most of it's audience. And that if they don't make some changes to bring in the demographic looking for a true simulation experience and community play, they should pack it up now.
Just to be clear, I am not proposing to ignore those looking for an arcade game. But rather to do something to include those that have been left out up to now.
@PalomaMarvel24 wrote:I am guessing EA has conceded the golf genre to 2K like it did with Basketball. That is possible reason game is now selling for $10 and no investment in improvements is made. The investment has been more focused on Madden, EA FC, NHL and UFC.
Exactly what I think Paloma. There's not enough money to be made in a golf game for EA, they're going to budget lots of resources for games giving them top revenues like Madden, FC and UFC. And like one of my kid told me, golf is grandpa sport... it made me feel so old. 😞
@Katybee_1313 wrote:
@PalomaMarvel24 wrote:I am guessing EA has conceded the golf genre to 2K like it did with Basketball. That is possible reason game is now selling for $10 and no investment in improvements is made. The investment has been more focused on Madden, EA FC, NHL and UFC.
Exactly what I think Paloma. There's not enough money to be made in a golf game for EA, they're going to budget lots of resources for games giving them top revenues like Madden, FC and UFC. And like one of my kid told me, golf is grandpa sport... it made me feel so old. 😞
The revenue for golf games was great during Tiger’s Heyday. That was one reason more investment in golf games were made. If another Tiger comes along, golf would be the cool thing like how I remembered during the early 2000’s.
If EA didn't thlnk there was a good chance to make money in a golf game they wouldn't have ventured into this endeavor.
But I believe your not wrong, based on their last effort it probably wouldn't take much for them to drop the title.
@ELF014 wrote:If EA didn't thlnk there was a good chance to make money in a golf game they wouldn't have ventured into this endeavor.
But I believe your not wrong, based on their last effort it probably wouldn't take much for them to drop the title.
I read somewhere 2K was bragging they sold more than 2.5M copies of PGA 2K21, and that's when EA announced they were making a new golf game. It would explain why EA paid and went all in with exclusive licenses for the 4 Majors.
Anyway, I have accepted this game for what it is. It has a great career mode compared to 2K, but game play has taken a backseat. It is dial a distance because that's the only way to have an arcade game, They added RNG like in TW11 to make the game more difficult. It frustrates many players, but it's not enough for Sim players who have been playing golf game for hours every day for 20+ years and can score -25 every round playing blindfolded with their toes, it's no challenge for them.
@Katybee_1313 wrote:
@ELF014 wrote:If EA didn't thlnk there was a good chance to make money in a golf game they wouldn't have ventured into this endeavor.
But I believe your not wrong, based on their last effort it probably wouldn't take much for them to drop the title.
I read somewhere 2K was bragging they sold more than 2.5M copies of PGA 2K21, and that's when EA announced they were making a new golf game. It would explain why EA paid and went all in with exclusive licenses for the 4 Majors.
Anyway, I have accepted this game for what it is. It has a great career mode compared to 2K, but game play has taken a backseat. It is dial a distance because that's the only way to have an arcade game, They added RNG like in TW11 to make the game more difficult. It frustrates many players, but it's not enough for Sim players who have been playing golf game for hours every day for 20+ years and can score -25 every round playing blindfolded with their toes, it's no challenge for them.
Though golf games don't make the same revenue as other major sports titles, I believe there is money to be made in them. As you said 2K21 is a prime example.
I feel both games have a dial-in distance built into them, which is why I play without the aiming reticule in 2K.
To me RNG is a gimmick to create artificial difficulty into the game. It can unfairly punish someone who actually executes a good swing.
I don't play hours a day... but I have played on an average of 6 hours or so a week for the last 9 years.
I feel I can manage my game pretty well, and execute enough shots to be considered capable... but don't consider myself exceptional.
I go out of my way to configure 2K to shoot around par, on a good day I might shoot -7. On a bad day +7...
With EA, no matter how I configure the game I'm always under par.
I agree the career mode is well done, and I feel the scoring is realistic. The problem is that I can't find enough difficulty in the game to keep my score low enough so the AI can be competitive.
And I fully agree with you that EA needs to add some settings to increase the difficulty in the game to include the more seasoned players.
@Katybee_1313 wrote:I read somewhere 2K was bragging they sold more than 2.5M copies of PGA 2K21, and that's when EA announced they were making a new golf game. It would explain why EA paid and went all in with exclusive licenses for the 4 Majors.
This same thing happened with NBA Live 19. NBA 2K18 sold really well while there has been a three year layoff for the NBA Live series. EA went all in for NBA Live 19 and got the WNBA in the game to take over the competition. The poor gameplay of NBA Live 19 resulted in poor reviews and sales. Two years later, NBA 2K21 finally got the WNBA and its create WNBA player feature.
If current game becomes the last of the series, it might take another 2 years til 2K gets the license for the majors.@PalomaMarvel24 I saw this quote regarding the length of this exclusive deal EA has with licensing all 4 majors…
”Asked for information on the length of the new agreement, an EA Sports spokesperson declined comment.”
Now personally, if this were a long term deal of say 4 years, EA would be banging their drum about it, boasting about it at every opportunity, so it tells me it’s a short term deal which they’re keeping it very hush hush. It also tells me if it really is a short term deal that they haven’t had confidence in their product from the get go
Imagine if they responded saying it was say just a 1 year deal from the game’s release date. The publicity wouldn’t be too great and wouldn’t give consumers confidence as it would sound like a lack of commitment from the parties involved. Now imagine if they said it was 5 year deal until 2028. Sounds like they’re committed to the deal, might inspire a little confidence from consumers straight away.
Just my opinion, though
EDIT: the quote is taken from this article here from 2021… https://www.polygon.com/2021/4/7/22371822/ea-sports-pga-tour-masters-tournament-ps5-xbox-series-x
Please keep in mind that CBS sports is on a one year contract to broadcast the Masters. Augusta National wants to ensure that whoever is conducting business with them that they continue to improve every year.
Thanks!
Augusta National and the Masters controls everything, especially their image.
@Bogeygolf83 Well, theres certainly a LOT of room for improvement with this game.
@drewgriffiths wrote:@Bogeygolf83 Well, theres certainly a LOT of room for improvement with this game.
From the arcade game perspective since that is what I tailor to, I'd much rather just pop in Tiger woods PGA Tour 2005 on Tour mode or TW14 over EA Sports PGA Tour. The cup physics in EA Sports PGA Tour are horrendous, putts that should drop roll over the hole or hit an invisible wall and go left or right when going to the hole. The spin mechanics confuse me due to ball physics difference in EA Sports PGA Tour to TW2005 so I can't manipulate the ball the way I want to. There's not even Tiger Proofing in the game, forget Course Architect. Lack of player positive and negative reactions to choose from. All Proshop gear including club specs not available at once. EA Sports PGA Tour is of I want to play online at this point with randoms. Don't care much about the pro pass. The rough and bunker issue this game has i'm not shocked on. TW13-14 had the same issue. You could be buried and hit the ball out of the lie just fine.
@MaouYumisu I’ll mention here I’m a pretty decent real world golfer, my club pro tells me I can be a scratch player even…. His words, not mine 😆. But thats not me puffing out my chest and boasting about anything. What it means is I know what happens on a golf course, the way a ball should bounce, roll, spin…. You get the picture. And some of the “physics” in this EA golf game are so artificial and wouldn’t happen on any golf course in the world and the first thing anyone would notice is how a ball interacts with the edge of the hole at times with strange lip outs and some putts even going into the hole only to pop straight back out and carry on a straight path. The way the game moves your ball from a problematic position and sometimes even moves your ball from an area which isn’t a penalty area but still penalises you a stroke. Anyone who is old enough will remember Jean van de Velde at the 1999 Open getting into the Barry Burn on 18 as if to play his ball out of it, the words of the late great Peter Alliss “Would somebody kindly stop him, give him a large brandy and mop him down? “. I would question if EA even know the rules of golf, but I’ll happily loan them my 2023 book of rules if it helps the improvement of this game 😆
@drewgriffiths wrote:@MaouYumisu I’ll mention here I’m a pretty decent real world golfer, my club pro tells me I can be a scratch player even…. His words, not mine 😆. But thats not me puffing out my chest and boasting about anything. What it means is I know what happens on a golf course, the way a ball should bounce, roll, spin…. You get the picture. And some of the “physics” in this EA golf game are so artificial and wouldn’t happen on any golf course in the world and the first thing anyone would notice is how a ball interacts with the edge of the hole at times with strange lip outs and some putts even going into the hole only to pop straight back out and carry on a straight path. The way the game moves your ball from a problematic position and sometimes even moves your ball from an area which isn’t a penalty area but still penalises you a stroke. Anyone who is old enough will remember Jean van de Velde at the 1999 Open getting into the Barry Burn on 18 as if to play his ball out of it, the words of the late great Peter Alliss “Would somebody kindly stop him, give him a large brandy and mop him down? “. I would question if EA even know the rules of golf, but I’ll happily loan them my 2023 book of rules if it helps the improvement of this game 😆
Wow... someone who actually agrees with me that the ball/cup phyics are not right. Not only is it wrong but inconsistent as well.
BUT I was surprised to hear that @MaouYumisu who is a self proclaimed arcade player is unhappy with the state of affairs as well.
If that is the case, exactly who was this game geared towards?
