Today @MLB, @MLB_Players, @SonySanDiego and @PlayStation announced multi-year, multi-platform video game partnership extensions @MLBTheShow. pic.twitter.com/PEGIRSNUSK
— MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) December 10, 2019
Both Microsoft and Nintendo have responded to the news on social media, all but officially confirming that "MLB The Show 21" will be released on their platforms.
This news will come as a shock to so many because Sony owns the studio that develops the game, and as such has always been an exclusive used to bolster a portfolio of in-demand games that could only be found on PlayStation.
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Times have changed, however, and the industry has shifted to a model that is heavily reliant on digital revenue. Card-collecting modes have become the primary development focus as many consumers end up spending more money after buying the game than on the games themselves. The goal then becomes to get the game in the hands of as many people as possible and keep them actively playing for as long as possible. Isolating a sports game to a single console restricts its growth potential.
The last true competitor to "The Show" was the much-maligned "MLB 2K" series from 2K Sports, which was shut down in 2013, leaving a massive hole in the sports gaming landscape. Microsoft's Xbox 360, and later that year the Xbox One, were left without a licensed MLB game.
That assisted the PlayStation 4 out of the gate as sports gamers who cared about baseball knew to choose that system over the Xbox One. Despite the market for baseball games being much smaller than that of basketball, football or soccer, it was enough to be considered a "system seller," acting as a prestige title for the console along with other high-profile exclusives.
While Xbox and Nintendo have gone without a signature licensed baseball title for many years now, a few other games have attempted to fill the gap. The excellent "Super Mega Baseball" and its sequel have been joined by the awful "RBI Baseball" series. The latter, ironically, is developed by MLB but its time is likely coming to an end after next year.
Both Sony and Microsoft will be rolling out a new generation of consoles in late 2020. The PlayStation 5, and unnamed next Xbox, will be out months before "MLB The Show 21" is released in March 2021.
"MLB The Show 20" will still come out only on PlayStation 4. That game is due mid-March 2020, with Cubs’ shortstop Javier Baez as the cover athlete.
Bryan Wiedey posts sports gaming news and analysis daily at Pastapadre.com, is co-founder of the sports gaming site HitThePass.com, hosts the "Press Row Podcast" and can be reached on Twitter @Pastapadre.