EA Sports ”wish him continued success” as they call an end to 15 years of cover star Tiger Woods, which began with PGA Tour 99 back in 1998. This makes PGA Tour 14 his last.
Relations between EA and Tiger Woods were already in retrograde as the pro golfer starting slipping the rankings in the fallout of his extra marital affair becoming public.
Then EA CEO John Riccitiello defended their decision to not have Woods appear on the cover of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters as being a practical business move. ”We have no plans to move away from him, but it’s a business relationship on the basis of we make the best golf game and he’s the best golfer,” Riccitiello said at the time.
”Both of those things need to be true in the long run for the partnership to make sense. He sort of stuck with us for a very long time and we made great business together and we’re willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for a period of time.”
Finally that partnership has ended with EA Sports’ golf boss Daryl Holt saying it was mutual. ”We’ve always been big fans of Tiger and we wish him continued success in all his future endeavours,” said Holt. ”Moving forward, we will continue to work with the PGA Tour exclusively to create groundbreaking golfing titles and our partnership remains strong.”
Meanwhile EA is busy with their next PGA Tour instalment and have shown the vast improvements from current gen to next-gen with a comparison screenshot to feast on. ”EA Sports golf fans have always loved authentic courses and players, but they’ve also asked for more choice and customization in how and where they play,” continued Holt.
”We’re working on a new approach to deliver the best golf experience to our fans - we think you’ll love it, and so we’re excited to share the first screenshot of our next generation golf game currently in development.”
