PGA Tour (video game series)

PGA Tour
Current logo
Genre(s)Sports
Developer(s)Sterling Silver Software
Polygon Games
Hitmen Productions
Unexpected Development
NuFX
Ceris Software
Adrenalin Entertainment
EA Redwood Shores
Xantera
Rainbow Studios
Headgate Studios
Stormfront Studios
Rebellion Developments
Backbone Emeryville
Sensory Sweep Studios
EA Canada
Team Fusion
EA Tiburon
Exient Entertainment
HB Studios
Publisher(s)EA Sports
Platform(s)MS-DOS, Sega Genesis, Amiga, Macintosh, SNES, Master System, Game Gear, PlayStation, Game Boy, 3DO, Sega Saturn, Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Color, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, Xbox, GameCube, Mac OS, N-Gage, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, Mac OS X, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, iOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S
First releasePGA Tour Golf
1990
Latest releaseEA Sports PGA Tour
April 7, 2023

PGA Tour is a series of golf video games developed and published by Electronic Arts - and later their EA Sports sub-label - since 1990. The series primarily features courses featured on the U.S. PGA Tour, and other notable courses (such as those that have hosted majors).

In 1998, EA began publishing their golf games with the endorsement of Tiger Woods. Following the Tiger Woods 99 PGA Tour Golf release, subsequent titles were named Tiger Woods PGA Tour and released yearly.

Although EA Sports developed most games in the series internally, some SKUs have come from outside developers including the first edition, Tiger Woods 99 PGA Tour Golf, which Adrenalin Entertainment developed in conjunction with EA for the PlayStation and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2001 for the PlayStation, which was developed by Stormfront Studios. IOMO also produced versions of the game for mobile phones for the 2002, 2004, and 2005 editions.

In October 2013, EA ended its relationship with Woods, being replaced with Rory McIlroy, then top golfer in the world, who became the new title athlete of the franchise. The game, Rory McIlroy PGA Tour, was released in 2015.[1][2]

The series was responsible for several innovations in the genre, such as the now standard three-click swing method. In 1995 a critic stated in GamePro that "The PGA series flies high above the rest for two reasons: You can completely control a shot, and you play on the best courses around."[3] However, unlike other games in the EA Sports label, the series was often shadowed by other competitors such as the Jack Nicklaus series, Links series, Microsoft Golf or The Golf Pro.

PGA Tour has brought in almost $771 million during the time it was named for Tiger Woods from 1999 to 2013.[4]

  1. ^ "EA Sports' golf video game returns as Rory McIlroy PGA Tour (Update)". Polygon. March 16, 2015. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  2. ^ Rovell, Darren (October 29, 2013). "EA Sports, Tiger Woods part ways". ESPN. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
  3. ^ "PGA Tour Golf Invades Europe". GamePro. No. 83. IDG. August 1995. p. 81.
  4. ^ "Electronic Arts end Woods relationship". espn. Retrieved August 1, 2018.