For 15 years now the "Out of the Park Baseball" series has been regarded as one of the best sports management simulators on PC. In 2011 the first mobile version of the game released on iOS offering much of the same functionality only in pocket form.
Out of the Park Baseball is all about team building and management. Gamers get total control over a franchise with an impressive slate of features and unparalleled depth. Free agency, trades, drafts, minor leagues, international scouting and a whole lot more is involved in that. Of course there are the actual in-game management decisions to take on during the season as well.
Since its inception however "OOTP" has lacked the official licensing of Major League Baseball. Real names could be used throughout the rosters for major league players, minor league players, and even historical figures, but no MLB branding, team names or logos could be featured.
Fans have been able to get around those absences by creating their own files which could be downloaded by others. That won't be necessary any longer.
Out of the Park Developments announced today that MLB.com and MiLB licensing will be featured in Out of the Park Baseball 16 and the upcoming mobile version (iOS and Android) which will be renamed to MLB Manager 2015.
OOTP 16 will feature official league logos, team logos and jerseys for all 30 MLB teams, over 150 MiLB team logos, and historical MLB logos.
“Having an official MLB.com license in OOTP 16 will benefit players in so many ways,” lead developer and game creator Markus Heinsohn said. “It will really add to the immersion factor, having league and team logos appear when they start a new league, and even if they go back in time and play historical seasons, they’ll have real logos available then too. And the cool part is the logos will change over the decades, as teams moved to new cities or simply updated their logos.”
Though OOTP is a text-sim the game has been trending more visual over time. Just last year 3D ballparks and 3D ball-flight tracking were added to the simulation options. All 30 MLB stadiums have been rendered for the upcoming game.
Other new features for OOTP 16 include real 2015 Major League Opening Day rosters along with full minor league rosters, brand new managing and coaching system, re-coded team finances and AI, new team strategy features and much more. There are said to be over 100 new features and improvements.
Out of the Park Developments also produces "Franchise Hockey Manager" and later this year will introduce "Beyond the Sidelines Football".
OOTP 16 will release in March for PC, Mac, and Linux. No release date has been specified for MLB Manager 2015 but traditionally the mobile version (previously known as "iOOTP") has gone out early-mid April.
Bryan Wiedey posts sports gaming news and analysis daily at Pastapadre.com, is a regular participant in the Press Row Podcast and Press Row Hangout shows, and can be reached on Twitter @Pastapadre.