14 DAY TRIAL // Tiger Woods might have lost the support of huge companies like Gillette and Accenture and the sponsorship money that came with it but the disgraced golfer can still count on Electronic Arts. The videogame publisher is clearly saying that it will continue to use him in its games as long as he continues to perform as a golfer.
Peter Moore, the head of EA Sports, has told television channel CNBC in an interview that “We've looked actually at the overall franchise for calendar year 2008 and 2009 and are slightly up when we look at all platforms for the Tiger franchise. Despite what has gone on in his personal life, we've seen no negative impact on sales.”
Electronic Arts seems to maintain its position of only looking at Tiger Woods as an athlete and will continue to feature him prominently on covers and advertising as it is gearing up to release two new titles in its gold franchise, Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online, which is set for a spring date and will allow fans of the sport to go into tournaments using only a web browser, and PGA Tour 11, which is set to arrive on the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 and the PSP at some point in June.
Moore has said that internal pooling made by Electronic Arts shows that gamers like the company line of sticking with Tiger Woods and the feedback has “validated” their decision to keep his name linked to the gold simulation games.
EA Sports has not been too clear on what Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 will change for the franchise. Fans have long asked for better putting simulation and for more weather influence on the game. With the new title set to be released in June, EA must surely be hoping that Tiger Woods himself goes out and plays in a few tournaments until then.