Keyur Khamar

By Christopher Powers
After going years without a PGA Tour golf video game, gamers will now have two options to choose from. An embarrassment of golf video-game riches, if you will.

On Monday, Electronic Arts announced that a new next-gen golf video game, EA Sports PGA Tour, is currently in development. The announcement comes six months after PGA Tour 2K21, developed by HB Studios, went on sale. Just two weeks ago, 2K announced it had signed a long-term exclusive partnership with Tiger Woods, as well as the acquisition of HB Studios.

Woods had previously partnered with EA Sports for 16 years, beginning in 1998. That partnership ended in 2014, and the following year Rory McIlroy took over as the game’s cover star. That wound up being the last golf video game EA Sports made.

Six years later, EA Sports is making its return to the golf video game world, with more details and a launch date expected to be announced in the coming weeks. In the game, fans can expect to experience the “sights, sounds, and thrills of the PGA Tour including The Players Championship, FedExCup Playoffs and more unforgettable events.”

In PGA Tour 2K21, fans could also play in The Players Championship, as well as the FedEx Cup playoffs and a number of other PGA Tour events. Though top tour players such as Justin Thomas, who graced the cover, Tony Finau, Patrick Cantlay and Bryson DeChambeau were among the tour pros in the game, you could not play as them, only against them in a PGA Tour career mode.

In Monday’s announcement, EA said gamers will have the option to play “against and as some of the biggest names in professional golf,” which would be a key difference between it and 2K21. Of course, the next version of 2K could add the ability to play as the pros, especially with Woods in the game, but as of now it’s unclear if that will be a feature.

As of now, no courses or pros have been announced for the EA Sports PGA Tour game, though more details are expected in the coming weeks.