Earlier this spring, EA Sports announced that for the next year, its golf video game, the first since 2015, will be the only one to include the sport’s four major championships.
Better do five.
The fifth is the Amundi Evian Championship of the LPGAwhich starts on Thursday in France. The Evian is one of the five majors on this tour, and both he and his course in Évian-les-Bains will play a prominent role in prominentvian-les-Bains EA Sports PGA tour, due next spring. EA Sports is still a bit cautious about the core features of the golf simulation, but the presence of an event and course exclusive to the women’s tour signals that the company is looking to put them in the spotlight and get their fans on a larger video game gallery as well.
In the game, “the golf course layout will definitely be different from a men’s major to a women’s major,” said Iona Stephen, the former touring professional who now operates Sky Sports in the UK and hosts Golf world, a program that also airs on The Golf Channel in the United States. Stephen also becomes part of EA Sports PGA Tour‘s team of commentators, the first woman to hold this role on the series.
“And that too would be easy to gloss over in the game,” Stephen continued. “EA didn’t do that. They ensure that the lengths and the course correspond to a ladies major; You will not only make the par-4s the same length, but the par-5s will be the same length. “
In addition, Stephen EA has advised Tiburon, the studio that develops the game, on the full spectrum of women’s golf so that the commentary and presentation team can give their participation the same factual weight and sober analysis as the men’s pros have shown .
“Who does the professional golfer have on her team? What is life like for a female professional tour? What about a male professional on tour who is on your team? ”Stephen as examples. “There are differences that have to be translated when you use the [two-time major champion] Jin Young Ko versus another male superstar. There are definitely nuances. […] It’s not something they do lightly. “
Asked about the integration of the LPGA in EA Sports PGA TourSenior Producer Jenny Martin disagreed with the main game modes, saying, “We’re not ready to make any announcements about the game modes at the moment.” But in a press release on Wednesday morning, EA said that Ko will be a playable athlete “in multiple game modes.” The company also said that user-created female golfers “can participate in a range of LPGA-themed challenges, amateur tournaments and events such as the Amundi Evian Championship”.
“We’ll be announcing a lot more around this game in the coming months,” said Martin. “We are on a fast track to have the game ready by spring [of 2022]. But the fact that we have the LPGA in the game and the fact that we are very committed to supporting some of these great tournaments, like the Evian, is very exciting for me personally, as I love going to LPGA events and have followed many Golfers. “
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The LPGA has appeared in EA Sports video games; Tiger Woods PGA Tour Dec., the last golf title under that nameplate, had an LPGA license and a dedicated women tour in career mode, highlighted by another women major on his official course, the Kraft Nabisco Championship (now ANA Inspiration), which is held at Mission Hills Country Club.
Female avatars have been an option for golfers for much longer. EA Sports’ previous golf franchise took them on and even on the Men’s PGA Tour found a way to realistically qualify and compete in the Masters tournament, which with. returns EA Sports PGA Tour.
But for the new game, engaging female golfers is “not just about getting women to play in a male location, for example,” Stephen said. “Because the women play very unique, bespoke, exciting venues. And the Evian is a great example of that. “
Championship setups – consisting of the width of the fairways; the length of the first cut; Speed, hardness and pin placement on the greens – are always a popular topic (if not a point of criticism) before and during an event. In addition to providing comments for EA Sports PGA Tour, Stephen is also part of a panel of broadcasters, professionals and other personalities that EA Sports has gathered to advise on the game’s development. Stephen said that discussing the adjustments an instructor would make for a more demanding event was part of their job as well as advising the team of commentators on when they or another commentator would speak, when to be silent, and what to consider as a golfer says, goes to the tea box, for example.
“It’s actually a very strict discipline,” said Stephen. “I think it’s these little details that will hopefully give the experience the edge.”
Martin said the new scanning technology EA Sports used to scan Augusta National Golf Course in EA Sports PGA Tour is also used for the Evian Resort Golf Club. “Every tree will be in its place. The attention to detail is here you know [second] Nothing. It’s incredible, ”said Martin.
Stephen, 30, said she did most of her golf video games in a training simulator – a much more sophisticated device where a professional actually swings the club. But what EA Sports is cooking for living rooms and gamepads, she believes that playing a hole in real life will bring the same mental challenge – that is, how to imagine the course to take into account the characteristics of the ball lie , and plan a feasible shot to get her out of the hole in as few strokes as possible.
“It’s that spatialization,” Stephen said, referring to the golfer’s ability to imagine where he is and how hard he is to hit the ball. “Right now you are slipping into the role of a professional golfer, and I am delighted to have this experience in the EA Sports PGA Tour Game.”
