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EA Sports is absolutely not distancing itself from its relationship with former world No.1 golfer Tiger Woods, EA Sports president Peter Moore has told Eurogamer following the release of a box art for the publisher’s new title in the Tiger Woods video game franchise.
The box art features the Masters golf tournament flag prominently on the cover, with Tiger relegated to a tiny support role. He does, however, feature in a more usual cover star role on the PS3-exclusive Collector’s Edition.
“We like everybody else that’s involved with Tiger and the game of golf in general, the Augusta club, are all anticipating a great year for golf this year and Tiger being very important in that,” Moore explained in a conference call yesterday evening.
He added: “If the insinuation is it’s a reflection of EA Sports backing away from its relationship that goes back literally 13 years with Tiger, that’s not the case whatsoever. This is obviously a very important day in our history and an important day in the world of golf video games, and focusing on the Masters is the right thing to do.”
And just to be clear, Moore also added: “This is something that’s very special, very different. You shouldn’t read anything into the fact that Tiger’s not featured on the box art of that particular edition.”
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters will be released on April 1 for Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 with support for PS Move.
The Masters is a huge tournament for golf fans and it’s certainly understandable that EA is choosing to push the inclusion of the event as strongly as possible.
With last year’s game failing to meet sales expectations it’s not entirely surprising to see EA trying something new with the box art – after so many years of seeing Tiger’s face on the cover, maybe the Masters flag will create a feeling of a new product rather than a yearly update.
