Tiger Woods 14 Returning to Traditional DLC Model for Acquiring Extra Courses

Last year in Tiger Woods 13 EA Sports introduced a system where courses available as DLC could be earned without paying for them. In theory through the normal course of play “coins” would be earned that could then be used instead to get them. At the time it sounded as though it would be appealing for consumers. The choice would be to put in the work necessary to be granted enough “coins” to obtain a new course or pay outright and not have to go through all that trouble and the time investment doing so would require. 

Unfortunately though as many suspected would be the case the system was rigged in a manner to encourage the continued buying of courses. “Coins” were not distributed at a reasonable rate therefore sustaining the incentive to buy any that were desired. Add to that how the cost of courses were raised apparently with the thinking in mind that some would pass then – going up $1 for individual courses and $5 for the set of 11 – and the trouble with microtransactions on the PS3 costing consumers even more money and the whole thing was deemed a disaster by reviewers and consumers alike. Even EA has apparently recognized that as they have scrapped the “Course Mastery” system for Tiger Woods 14 according to IGN.

The Tiger Woods series has been plagued by a reliance on DLC that has gradually eaten away at the goodwill of consumers. Seeing events missing in career mode and being constantly pressured to buy DLC has proven unsettling while being expected to re-buy a bunch of extra courses every year has taken its toll.