Sony Interactive Entertainment and Major League Baseball are extending their long-term contract to develop MLB The Show, the league’s officially licensed simulation video game. The deal, however, has a very important twist: MLB The Show is no longer available only on PlayStation. The series comes on other, not yet confirmed console platforms.
In a press release, Major League Baseball, Major League Baseball Players Association, Sony Interactive Entertainment, and developer SIE San Diego Studio announced an unspecified multi-year extension of their long-standing partnership. They also confirmed that MLB The Show will be released in 2021 on consoles “beyond the PlayStation platforms”.
While the league, the players’ association and Sony have not stated on which non-PlayStation platforms MLB The Show will be home soon, both the official Xbox and Nintendo of America Twitter accounts tweeted about the deal suggesting that MLB will be the show in the future video games would come on the platforms of these companies. It’s unclear if San Diego itself would develop non-PlayStation versions of the games.
SIE’s San Diego Studio has been developing officially licensed MLB video games exclusively on PlayStation platforms for over 20 years, starting with MLB 98 on the original PlayStation. The MLB The Show brand has been active since 2006, with MLB 06: The Show for PlayStation 2 and PSP.
MLB The Show has for many years been the only traditional baseball simulation series that gives owners of non-PlayStation consoles options. The main contest, the 2K Sports MLB 2K franchise, ended in 2014 following the release of Major League Baseball 2K13 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 the previous year. The last entry in the franchise on a Nintendo platform was Major League Baseball 2K12 on Nintendo DS. Instead, MLB Advanced Media has been releasing its own baseball video game since 2014, with which the R.B.I. Baseball Series with R.B.I. Baseball 14. During the R.B.I. Games are available on Nintendo Switch and Xbox One. They are not considered true simulation competitors of the MLB The Show titles of Sony.
MLB The Show 20, possibly the last PlayStation exclusive entry, is scheduled to be released on PlayStation 4 on March 17, 2020 and will feature Chicago Cubs star Javier Báez as cover athlete.
