EA Extends Exclusive PGA Agreement To 2012

Electronic Arts today announced an exclusive six-year extension to its more than 15-year old licensing agreement with the PGA golf association, which includes the company's Tiger Woods PGA Tour franchise - the partnership now sees EA as the exclusive creator of PGA-branded video games through 2012. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07, the next game in the popular and long running franchise, is scheduled to be released in Europe in September and in the U.S. in October, and will be available for the Xbox 360, Xbox, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, and PC, well as on mobile platfroms. According to the press release, EA plans to promote the game heavily in Asia, as well as within the international marketplace - Tiger Woods is a particularly well-known sports figure in Asian territories. Thus, with some other competing titles in the console space, such as the Links series, not having been published in recent years, the company is looking to extend its advantage in the golf genre. “The PGA Tour is excited to continue our relationship with EA,” said Ed Moorhouse, PGA Tour Executive Vice President and Co-Chief Operating Officer. “Our video game provides a great entry into golf for kids and allows our brand to reach multiple generations throughout the world. EA has been a fantastic partner and has built the best video game franchise in golf.” “We look forward to continuing our longstanding and very successful relationship with the PGA Tour,” said Frank Gibeau, EA’s Executive Vice President and GM of North American Publishing. “The PGA Tour has been a great partner and we look forward to creating new and innovative products with them that continue to raise the standards for the sports video game genre.”