Re: Why EA Sports is Losing its Player Base.... the base they never had

Read a few times the only reason EA started their golf franchise again, it was because PGA2K21 sold almost 3 millions copies. Without the hope of a good return to investment, it wouldn't surprise me they stopped doing the game like they did after EA Rory.

EA was really good in 2018 and before. That year also marked the last year for game face. At that time, they responded and troubleshoot issues on Pre order bonus for SW Battlefront 2 and NHL 18. They were also were responsive of fixing issues with UFC 3 and SW Battlefront 2. The decline started late 2018 with NBA Live 19 where issues were not being addressed. Madden was also starting to become more rehashed and buggy. Post 2019, UFC 4, FIFA and NHL remains the games that I still enjoy from EA. I think EA PGA Tour might share the same fate as NBA Live 19 unless the next iteration becomes more like TW14.

---

@Katybee_1313 wrote:

Read a few times the only reason EA started their golf franchise again, it was because PGA2K21 sold almost 3 millions copies. Without the hope of a good return to investment, it wouldn't surprise me they stopped doing the game like they did after EA Rory.

---

It wouldn't surprise me to find out that is true. They see an opportunity for profit and make a move... The trouble is, they seem to have hired a sub-standard team to make a sub-standard game, that only has pretty graphics as its saving grace. Beauty alone is just not enough though. 

If they want a good return on investment, they need to rethink things, and give people a game that can truly compete with 2K. 

I've gotten to the point of only playing the dailies on here. There's a part of me hopes that if they see enough people still playing, they will try to make it right. I'm not really holding that much hope overall though, either for improvements or longevity. 

---

@ELF014 wrote:

The problem is that there is no competition in the console marketplace. There are only two games of any consequence vying for this marketshare and one of these games was developed by a small fringe software company out of Canada.

If you compare this game to EA's last most complete game they are miles apart in features. But then I would also suggest that their counterpart (2K23) is also trending in the same direction, though they at least offer a more comprehensive package.

2K23's character builder which was always lacking has only gotten worse each year. 

I personally feel "The Golf Club" was in much better hands when it belonged to a company with a stable of one product. Under the 2K umbrella it is just another title that brings money in to a giant conglomerate. And a small title at that compared to it's peers which why it sees very little love. I fear this is also the case at EA.

The consumer really doesn't have much of a choice anymore... you can drink light beer with an EA label on it with an alchol content of 4.0% or one with a 2K label at 4.1%.

We need another small group of dedicated golf fanatics that are developers to step up and create a new franchise like HB Studio's did. But for them to hold on to the franchise and continue to grow the product instead of selling out to a large entity that is stunting the games growth.

---

I looked up HB Studios. and the games they made were amazing. HB Studios was responsible for most of EA's games during their heyday. The best versions of NBA Live, Madden, NHL, FIFA, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour were all made by HB Studios. They also coincided with the implementation of gameface since TW, Madden and FIFA all had gameface. With the exception of EA FC (aka FIFA) and NHL, the other games are just a shell of what they used to be. I never had the chance to play the Golf Club, but I liked PGA Tour 2K21. I could not believe the dropoff of games since HB Studios and EA parted ways. Now I understand why the Tiger Woods Series was absolutely amazing; it had an imprint of HB Studios. I remembered watching a 1998 WCW Promo of Scott Steiner taking shots at Mark McGwire: Steiner said,"Mark McGwire just hit 70 home runs with Andro; how many home runs can he hit without Andro?...TWO!" The huge drop off from TW14 to the current PGA Tour reminds me of Scott Steiner's promo.

---

@Noya_Wesa wrote:

---

@Katybee_1313 wrote:

Read a few times the only reason EA started their golf franchise again, it was because PGA2K21 sold almost 3 millions copies. Without the hope of a good return to investment, it wouldn't surprise me they stopped doing the game like they did after EA Rory.

---

It wouldn't surprise me to find out that is true. They see an opportunity for profit and make a move... The trouble is, they seem to have hired a sub-standard team to make a sub-standard game, that only has pretty graphics as its saving grace. Beauty alone is just not enough though. 

If they want a good return on investment, they need to rethink things, and give people a game that can truly compete with 2K. 

I've gotten to the point of only playing the dailies on here. There's a part of me hopes that if they see enough people still playing, they will try to make it right. I'm not really holding that much hope overall though, either for improvements or longevity. 

---

To compete with 2K, EA needs another TW14. I like 2K23 and 2K21, but they are still not TW14. If San Diego Studios, the ones who creates MLB the Show, joins in the golf genre, there might be a chance EA and 2K step it up to make an even better product. Back in the early 2000s, football games were made by EA with Madden, 2K with NFL 2K, and 989 Sports with NFL Gameday; the same was also true for NHL. Having a three way competition made the gameplay much better for all companies involved.

I own all the golf games in The Golf Club series. The first 3 games have a different feel before 2K bought the franchise.

I much prefer how the previous games played more... the main improvement as far as game play since 2K2019 (the last true game without 2K's influence), was that they sped up the green speeds. They were always too slow.

There are many people who feel 2K2019 is the best game in the series. If the green speeds were faster I might be in that camp.

---

@ELF014 wrote:

I own all the golf games in The Golf Club series. The first 3 games have a different feel before 2K bought the franchise.

I much prefer how the previous games played more... the main improvement as far as game play since 2K2019 (the last true game without 2K's influence), was that they sped up the green speeds. They were always too slow.

There are many people who feel 2K2019 is the best game in the series. If the green speeds were faster I might be in that camp.

---

I have not played the first 3 Golf Clubs, but I have read the FAQ. The first golf club was made because EA did not renew contract with HB Studios to make Tiger Woods PGA Tour 15. That marked the end of the TW series. From the FAQ, the first golf club only had one difficulty level. IMHO, I would not survive in that game. Per their YouTube video, the next two golf clubs (2017 and 2K19) had multiple difficulty levels, character creation and societies. These are features that are similar to 2K21. I would fare better in the 2017 and 2019 versions.