PGA Tour 2k23 vs EA Golf - Buyer's Guide

If you are trying to decide which golf video game will be the right one for you use this PGA Tour 2k23 vs EA Golf - Buyer's Guide to help you make that choice.
Both will have pro’s and con’s for sure and at the end of the day spark further innovation which in the end is the best for both games!
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TGC Tours - an online third party website (tgctours.com/ ) that pulls data from PGA Tour 2k21. By having this connectivity, we are able to compete across platform using the games societies.
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Competition Site(Ranked top 100 Virtual WGR): tgctours.com/

[@Kilbride10]

PGA Tour 2k23 was released 10/14/2022. In addition, EA dropped their teaser trailer for their new golf game coming in Spring of 2023. In this video we break down the likely pro's and con's of each. Which one will you buy?!?!

[@startrekmaniac1701]

Does 2k have the masters or is it just in ea?

[@Kilbride10]

@@startrekmaniac1701 the masters is only in ea. 2k had created course replicas with their course designer but the only official Augusta is in EA

[@edruiz1202]

Golf is my favorite sport. I’m buying both. Already enjoying 2k23. I’m pretty EA is going to be way better though.

[@Kilbride10]

I hope that’s the case. Each game going back and forth setting the bar higher for each other

[@wout123100]

i very doubt that, unless you love arcadegolf.

[@Kilbride10]

@@wout123100 based on their latest trailer I think EA will have the option for realism or arcade. They have multiple settings and customization

[@curtiscormier8960]

Like 2K23 hopefully ea sports not like Rory golf game ea put out was not much to do in that game not much of any thing but sure this one be better

[@Kilbride10]

@@curtiscormier8960 Yeah, 8 years removed, next gen engine and direct competition makes me envision that they have something special brewing.

[@paulsccna2964]

One the best features of these Golf games, is the ability to play online against other players. Another huge thing was ability to get Experience points and unlock features of even hidden course.

[@Kilbride10]

Both should have online ranked.

[@anthonyroberts5016]

I have 2K23 and will be buying EA23 in the spring. One of the disappointing aspects right now with 2K23 is the uneven playing field with the golf ball sleeves. I know there is currently no ranked competitive online play,but I thought I read some sere that even societies can not stop players choosing to use ball sleeves if they so wish. Not 100% sure about that though.

[@Kilbride10]

You are correct on the balls and the society settings. However, 2k in a recent interview revealed that they are working online ranked mode and crossplay... if both come before the EA release that will be huge for this game. As for the balls, I know the nextmakers (gamers affiliate with 2k sports) voiced their concern and I believe they are looking into what they can do to make the necessary changes. (hopefully at bare minimum have control in society rounds)

[@wout123100]

you need to play on tgctours, there is an even field, default ball. and societies cna stop sleeves too now, luckily

[@anthonyroberts5016]

@@wout123100 I used to play in tgc tours and two societies until recently.I'm not playing right now as I'm taking a break from it all.

[@tdurb0]

I only wish you could import user-made courses into 2k career mode. I wouldn’t look anywhere else again, ever, if that could’ve been done

[@Kilbride10]

I know they have added the “2k official” courses to swap in and out. I would imagine they keep it restricted to that unfortunately. That being said… a good chunk of the 2k official courses are designed by some of the top designers in the community and I do anticipate that list to continue to grow

[@tdurb0]

@@Kilbride10 Very true. I know there’s a perfect Masters course under @ugust@ (probably been removed by now: Augusta and their precious licence. Same as Wimbledon in tennis games. Can’t help thinking they’re shooting themselves in the foot: people will still go and fill it every day with or without a video game re-creation).

[@wout123100]

yes another miss

[@pacervault3350]

2K23 is a big step down in enjoyability from 2K21 in my opinion...it sucks in many ways. I'm definitely going to be trying the new EA sports Golf.

[@Kilbride10]

What do you think is worse about it? Feels to me they have improved almost all aspects.

[@pacervault3350]

@Kilbride10 chipping is horribly inconsistent. Putting...don't even get me started! I was very good in 2k21, and horrible in 2k23 in spite of dozens of rounds played so far. The club selection and attributes section is nearly impossible for me to comprehend as it is not well explained, nor is it intuitive. That's my primary beef thus far.

[@Kilbride10]

@@pacervault3350 Did you feel like chipping in 21 was realistic? That is my main reason for liking it better in 23. By no means is it perfect however it certainly removes the "auto chip-ins" that they basically had in 21. Without question 23 has some flaws... I do believe based on their interaction thus far and the competition looming they will continue to polish these flaws and cater to those looking for the simulation style of golf game. Are you already leaning towards an EA purchase?

[@pacervault3350]

@Kilbride10 ill get EA golf for sure...then I'll see which I like better. I do enjoy my society communities so I'm unlikely to leave 2k23

[@Kilbride10]

@@pacervault3350 very interested to see how ea presents a feature like societies if at all. Online ranked will certainly be a feature. But curious if they will focus at all on casual society play. (My guess is that they won’t)

[@kylesanders5999]

Roy was amazing. 2k is just ok

[@cameronvandevelde4186]

it will be crazy if PGA 2K also gets the licenses to all 4 majors or least to the 3 majors like the US Open, PGA Championship, and The Open! I don't think it will happen (extremely slim chance) since EA Sports says they are exclusive to them, especially with The Masters, but if PGA 2K can get at least the other majors by a miracle, in addition to having course designer, I think that PGA 2K will be the better game in the long run! Either way, this is awesome there is a golf game rival now which will push both companies to deliver the best golf game they can make!! knock on wood, PGA 2K may drop something big on Friday in addition to having John Cena coming to the game on Friday, the worldwide launch day for EA PGA!! Just like how EA dropped their first teaser trailer on the launch day of PGA 2K23 back in Oct '22, I sure hope PGA 2K has something up their sleeve that no one will expect coming, but we shall see!! even if it's small like more playable characters like Shooter McGavin and Happy Gilmore, like that will stand out because it's a classic golf movie! and the actor of Shooter, Chris McDonald, has been advertising PGA 2K since 2020 so it's a perfect opporunity to add his fictional character in the game along with Adam Sandler's Happy Gilmore! like if PGA 2K only brings John Cena into the game as a playable character on EA PGA's worldwide launch day, that will be very disappointing for 2K... I grew up playing the EA tiger games and loved them! My favorite golf game of All-time is TW14, but then after that EA PGA failed bad with Rory Mcilory...like it was fun at first but then got very boring quickly and had very little content compared to TW14. I then tried out TGC2019 since HB Studios got the PGA License with an open mind and loved it! While TGC/PGA 2K has your general modes like career, online and offline play, TGC/PGA 2K franchise has way better gameplay than the EA golf games did. I am team 2K all the way and with Tiger signing a deal with 2K and 2K Sports acquring HB Studios two years ago, I have high hopes for the PGA 2K franchise and how they have great potential for their future games! and now with EA PGA at launch day, it will be a great rival! EA PGA has more depth at launch than Rory Mcilroy ever had so EA knows it's competition and sure hope that 2K does likewise for their current game and games to come!

[@Kilbride10]

Great write up. I’m hoping 2k has something up their sleeve as well. Imo from the few hours I have played in ea, 2k feels like the better gameplay. That being said the graphics and major tournaments will overshadow that to most casual gamers and attract them to EA if 2k doesn’t have something else to add. Let’s hope for some good competition and neither to blow the other out of the water to force each developer to keep innovating.

[@cameronvandevelde4186]

@@Kilbride10 I agree about the gameplay, 2k feels better and smoother than EA!

[@randyreal5871]

Tiger Woods 10 was really fun

[@Kilbride10]

Don’t specifically remember 10 but i do recall loving most of the TW games

[@bigdoggames9795]

Also for me, haveing a golf chourse creater is great.. but not a deal breaker for me at all. I have 2K23 I like it, but I will for sure go to EA once it's out. I think character creation will also blow 2K out. I think they will make a more realistic sim this time. Or a good Balance of each.

[@Kilbride10]

For the character creation it won’t take much to beat 2ks current mold. EA I’m sure will have more elaborate. Really hoping their release sparks innovation from both and the players are rewarded with better games as a result.

[@wout123100]

@@Kilbride10 well one thing it does is competition, that usually makes stuff better.

[@Kilbride10]

@@wout123100 100p

[@9614cp]

Why do this when game isn’t even out yet? 🤦‍♂️

[@Kilbride10]

@@9614cp simply providing all the info that’s available to help guide someone if they are debating on waiting for ea or buying 2k now

[@Raiders-wm5kb]

Ranked matches and crossplay are coming to 2K23 in future updates.

[@Kilbride10]

So pumped to hear about this! Absolutely massive for 2k which sets the bar that much higher if EA is looking to compete.

[@user-rr2tn2dd8q]

A feature that should've been in the game at launch...Typical 2k lel Back to Tiger Woods PGA Tour ps2 era.

[@Kilbride10]

@@user-rr2tn2dd8q Yeah... I would have to agree. I am happy to hear that it is a work in progress and with EA out there 2k will have to battle to stay on top.

[@user-rr2tn2dd8q]

@@Kilbride10 I don't even think EA has to try if this is the quality 2k can produce with an extra year added. As far as EA goes I know the new game won't be on the old tiger woods engine so I can only imagine how they'll handle the game in presumably the frostbite engine. It can't possibly be any worse than what 2k did. But I have faith they'll do even decently given their track record.

[@Kilbride10]

@@user-rr2tn2dd8q I think golf is a huge market that needs to be explored and invested in more by developers. This is hopefully the start of a great time period where the competition is driving each developer to do better.

[@ignignxkt]

I was really disappointed with 2k and found it incredibly frustrating. I like the golfer selection better, but you can't really use them, so it doesn't matter. Feel EA with their Tiger series has a better history of the type of game id rather play.

[@Kilbride10]

All fair points. And likely a major reason that EA will be widely accepted as the preferred game

[@allenp920]

EA Sports for me. 2K23 is a cut and paste 2K21 with a frilly skirt

[@Kilbride10]

Based on the recent previews of EA it is certainly trending that way.

[@bigdoggames9795]

But with 2K, you can't play a career mode with pros which in my eyes pretty much makes it obsolete. Most people also want to be able to play a career mode with tour pros.

[@Kilbride10]

Agreed the names for 2k are great but their utilization is minimal at best. It’s a real shame.

[@wout123100]

def yes, a huuge miss there.

[@jedistreaming4006]

2k23 is not gonna be a hit in terms of online play with the golf balls thing. Offline is where it shines and the gameplay is superior to 2k21. My only gripe is not having all 4 mayor championship course's since EA has the licence.

[@Kilbride10]

It is certainly a deterrent not having the all 4 majors. Definitley loses the lure to add new players. I think with EA coming back to the market and adding that angle as well as likely an "easier" gameplay style it will bring a lot more people into the golf video game realm again. Once the battle starts after EA's launch it will be interesting to see what angles 2k has to sway people to their product over EA's.

[@user-rr2tn2dd8q]

@@Kilbride10 I think Tiger needs to resign to EA because 2k doesn't deserve tiger

[@McHugh1949]

2K23 was as bad as 2k21 which I played for a brief period. 2K23 is basically is a patch but they charged the price of a new game. For example after 4 or 5 versions from HB Studios they still couldn't figure a way to render pot bunkers. There were pot bunkers in TW 08 which came out in 2007! Basic real life golf options like mulligans and gimmes while playing a course are still missing. My opinion is that none of the developers at HB have even played the real game. How else do you explain divots on the tee boxes of 600 yard par 5's? Or the challenge on a 450 par 4 to get on in 1 under regulation? Do they even know that means hitting the green in one? I hope that EA's game is more realistic as it certainly looks better graphically. Having a course editor would be nice but the fact is that about 99.9% of the courses rendered by 2K21 players were not even worth playing. I hope that there will be an option to create your own avatar in EA's game. Regardless, competition is good and it may even push the people behind 2K23 to improve their product.

[@Kilbride10]

A lot of fair points here. I do feel like 23 upgraded a lot from 21 personally…. However did they miss a lot of “easy” things that should be their like you mentioned, absolutely. EA’s release will at the very least put the pressure on them to make these changes and hopefully us gamers are finally the beneficiaries. Personally with all the new promotions for EA I am very excited and it seems like they tackle quite a bit of the simple tasks that 2k fails. Really hope the game plays well

[@EsterStPaul]

They have to at least make it better than Links LS 2000

[@Kilbride10]

You would hope so! Fingers Crossed

[@MrZola1234]

It would seem to me, this video is way to early. You can't compare a game that is out to a game that is not out and the franchise has not been published in years.

[@Kilbride10]

Based on the info available at the time and speculation off of past history. Of course, time will tell. But if debating 2k23 purchase right now... this is pretty much all we have.

[@jrago73]

I agree, there is a LOT of guessing and assumptions based on the way some other crew made the EA game a lot of years ago. Think you're just better off with a video for whether 2k is worth a pickup and the same with EA once we know much more about it.

[@MrZola1234]

@James Rago interestingly, HB signed several of the original EA Tiger games programers when they made 2k19. I suspect some of those guys are still there making golf games for HB.

[@davidchambers134]

2k23 is rubbish for online gaming mode no leader board and I've played every golf game ever made this game is utter trash unless like you say you are a course designer but to sit and play online it's rubbish but I do enjoy listening to your comments

[@Kilbride10]

Sadly you couldn’t be more correct about the online situation. The only saving Grace is the online societies. Tgctours does a great job on their site however the game should not be reliant on third party websites to drive competition. They have mentioned online ranked mode coming in early 2023. Can only hop it’s sooner than later

[@rb6277gamingSSRforfun]

Generally 2K is better in sports games then EA the last years...certainly in simulation ones. I think it's what you prefer simulation or more arcade style. We still need to wait before EA Golf is coming out before we can give a honest opinion about it. The only thing is that I am a little sceptic about EA is because the other sportgames like NHL, FIFA or Madden were better in the past then they are now.

[@Kilbride10]

For sure we will have to wait to know for certain. At this point it is the best guess we have and ea would be smart to have some arcade mode to cater to an untapped audience currently. My bet is that they will

[@poseidon2120]

My only problem regarding EA is that their golf game is not coming for steam (PC) unless they change their minds.

[@Kilbride10]

That is certainly a deterrent and helps 2k in that market quite a bit. If that is the case for EA i would imagine they are releasing with some really cool next-gen graphics (one would hope).

[@Kilbride10]

@paul darn i heard! thats awesome! I really hope its crossplay upon release

[@johnerbudman123]

Ea golf 🤷‍♂️

[@Kilbride10]

New trailer looks great imo

[@brewcrew0374]

EA sucks now at making video games, I used to love tiger woods back in the day don’t get me wrong… EA truly don’t care much anymore bout career. It will focus on the four tournaments. But EA will EA and will in the end be less superior once again. Yes they have some good licenses for courses.. I wanna play a demo first lol. 2k is going to be more deep overall. Just my opinion guys. 🍻 😊😊😊😊😊l❤golf

[@Kilbride10]

All valid points. It’s the first time they are creating a “new” sports game in a while so it will be interesting to see the original product. Madden/FIFA/NHL etc. are all annual releases for some time so largely based on its prior years game. With golf not having one other than Rory and old tiger games I’m intrigued on the initial product

[@brewcrew0374]

@@Kilbride10 you are correct sir… I am definitely amped to see the difference each game has to offer not only visual but gameplay n players…. Hope EA can actually make a semi decent product out the gate since your right it hasn’t been an annual release, so this should be interesting how it plays out.. very excited for golf to be playable and back on the map!!

[@kylesanders5999]

I play better in real golf then I do in 2k lol

[@pritchcentergaming1212]

If EA does not have a course creator it can not compete whatsoever. U have unlimited replay value with 2k and the community that built that IP up with the course creator (THE GOLF CLUB)

[@Kilbride10]

I tend to agree. EA will have to really blow 2k out of the water in every other aspect if that is the case.

[@time2shinex707]

Ea sport does not need a course designer ,the career mode and gameplay should sell the game, i want to play on official courses, 2k are not the benchmark in golf games, Ea have allowed 2k to fill a gap in the golf gaming space.Ea sport PGA will be the better golf game if EA sport are serious.

[@pritchcentergaming1212]

@@time2shinex707 lol

[@Kilbride10]

@@time2shinex707 If EA picks up a really large inventory of courses and knocks it out of the park on game modes and gameplay then I can see that happen. The course designer mode for 2k makes the replay ability so much more interesting imo. That being said... tbd on EA so time will certainly tell and I will be grabbing a copy for sure as well.

[@user-rr2tn2dd8q]

@@time2shinex707 EA has been the benchmark in the peak of golf games since the fucking PS2 era which was the best era golf games were made in. No golf games in this era hold a candle to even the 360 era with 14 where you can play 1930s Augusta National with the clubs of that era. 2K has never been the benchmark in golf games and NEVER will be. ESPECIALLY with ONLINE ONLY story mode.

[@benelliott-lh7fb]

Is 2k23 better than 2k21?

[@Kilbride10]

Imo yes. I think they polished up quite a few things. They added crossplay and ranked and a bit more customization. If you enjoyed 21 you will likely enjoy 23. If you didn’t enjoy 21 then maybe try 23 out first. EA will offer a much different experience if that’s something you’re looking for and worth a try too

[@benelliott-lh7fb]

@@Kilbride10 Thanks for your in depth reply, I really appreciate it. Some people have said that career mode is slightly different in 2K23 compared to 2k21 in that you need to acquire fittings to customise stats. I’m paraphrasing and don’t fully understand the mechanics but do you think it’s an improvement or not regarding gameplay and replay value? This will be my first ever golf game. How do you think EA pga compares to 2K23?

[@Kilbride10]

@@benelliott-lh7fb if you think career mode will be where you spend most of your time I would recommend EA. EA has all of the majors and a good amount of club customization as well as character progression. On top of that graphics is a much higher level on EA. 2k caters more towards the more authentic swing feel and high end online competition as well as course creation (with their course designer mode)

[@benelliott-lh7fb]

@@Kilbride10 unfortunately I don’t have a ps5 but I will get EA when I do get one. Would 2K23 be ok in the meantime?

[@Kilbride10]

@@benelliott-lh7fb ah gotcha. If you golf irl or like a challenge 2k is a great simulation golf video game and I would definitely recommend. If you are purchasing with the intent of spending your time in career mode exclusively, I would personally wait. (Career mode is for sure lacking)

[@Jensen-C]

I get pga 2k23 for free for working at top golf lol

[@Kilbride10]

do you play the top golf mode? or what mode have you gravitated towards the most?

[@Jensen-C]

@@Kilbride10 the fact i got it for free lmao

[@Kilbride10]

@@Jensen-C free is awesome! I’m jealous

[@tragicnutsaxk]

You know nothing Jon Snow

[@malikon6953]

why not both? Lol

[@Kilbride10]

That’s what I will be doing for sure

[@malikon6953]

@@Kilbride10 same, lol. I'm playing 2k23 now, but I'll get the EA game when it comes out for sure.

[@wout123100]

what nonsense, the EA game is not even out, jeeesss

[@Kilbride10]

Early predictions with the info we have available. Still not much has changed since I published this other than we are closer to the ea release. Awaiting further news

[@allenp920]

HB Studio devs are the most incompetent, intolerant and ignorant people ever to put their name to a game.

[@Kilbride10]

Im guessing your leaning towards EA? 😂

[@tdurb0]

I’m sure 2k has @ugust@ somewhere in that long list of user-designed courses

[@Kilbride10]

Right many fake ones will be made. Some not so great, some good. However they will “do their best” to have them removed.

[@tdurb0]

@@Kilbride10 I hate that their licence is so precious to them. Same with Wimbledon in tennis.

[@gamechatshow]

@@tdurb0 Couldnt agree more. The free marketing they would receive would only help increase their casual fan base imo.