EA Sports Releasing PGA Tour Golf Challenge On Facebook

Electronic Arts announced plans to launch a new EA Sports social game, PGA Tour Golf Challenge, on Facebook this winter with real-time 3D gameplay and microtransactions. Developed by EA Sports Tiburon, PGA Tour Golf Challenge will allow users to play rounds to earn experience and level up through their careers. They will be able to unlock famous golf courses, play against their Facebook friends in daily challenges, and compete to be crowned as weekly champions on the social network. EA Sports says it's tailored the title for casual audiences by implementing one-click swings, aiming with either a mouse or keyboard, custom clubs, and various shot types. The Unity-based game also offers several gameplay modes, as well as opportunities to customize and "accelerate a player's career" through microtransactions. The title is noticeably missing the Tiger Woods license that EA Sports has applied to nearly all of its PGA Tour releases in the past 11 years. This could have more to do with the company differentiating its similar free-to-play Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online product than the golfer's recent personal controversies, though. PGA Tour Golf Challenge joins two of previously launched social games based on EA Sports' popular franchises: FIFA Superstars, which currently has over 3.7 million monthly active users; and Madden NFL Superstars, which has more than 2 million monthly users and over 200,000 daily users. "EA Sports is pioneering new ways to play games online by creating entertaining experiences that resonate with both casual and hardcore gamers alike," says EA Sports' worldwide development SVP Andrew Wilson Wilson adds, "Our growing portfolio of premium social gaming products, including EA Sports PGA Tour Golf Challenge, provides unique new opportunities for fans to experience sports games online, while also helping us reach an evolving fan base."