Oh dear. It appears as if some customers of EA’s latest annual hitting a ball with a stick simulator aren’t too pleased. The Tiger Woods series has been absent from the PC all the way since Tiger Woods 2008, but this year marked its return to the almighty desktop. Sadly, it seems that instead of being a port of the high-end console version, like what EA used to do, it is apprently based heavily on the free-to-play, Unity-based, Tiger Woods Online.



Some customers were confused by this, and had expected the PC version to include all of the features from the Xbox 360 or PS3 version (and their confusion wasn’t helped by this page on EA.com implying the PC version might be the same as the console version).

Truepcgaming.com have taken a good look at the disappointing disparities between the console and the PC version here, citing problems like “clunky and stiff golfer animations”, “mediocre at best graphical presentation”, and the advertised “The Caddie Experience” appears to be nowhere to be found. This is of course not officially confirmed, but they allege that “TW12 plays, looks and feels exactly like Tiger Woods Online.” Emails to us from readers who’ve bought the game offer a similar sentiment.

The game even comes with a three-month trial for Tiger Woods Online instead of its own, fully-fledged multiplayer mode, while clothing and equipment upgrades for your character allegedly require microtransactions. More detailed observations and complaints have cropped up on Reddit.

A number of complaints on the official forum have been wiped by moderators, who claim this is solely due to the use of profanity. Thankfully, it appears that EA are however offering refunds to gamers disappointed with the PC version.

If you want to try and wrangle a refund, speak with someone over at EA’s livechat.

We’ve asked EA for comment, and whether the refunds are standard policy or judged on a case-by-case basis.