"MLB 19: The Show"/Sony
- Sony's best-selling baseball franchise, "MLB the Show," is no longer a PlayStation-exclusive.
- Major League Baseball confirmed a multi-year extension of its licensing deal with Sony, and the statement confirmed that the "MLB the Show" franchise will move to new platforms for the first time ever.
- The broad appeal of Major League Baseball could lead to much higher sales for "MLB the Show" once it becomes available to the millions of gamers with Xbox and Nintendo consoles for the first time.
- For the MLB, having the most popular baseball game in front of new audiences will help promote the real product on the field.
- "MLB the Show 20" is already scheduled for a March 2020 release on PlayStation 4, but the series could make the jump to Xbox and Switch "as early as 2021."
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After more than two decades as a PlayStation exclusive, Sony's best-selling baseball franchise, "MLB the Show," will make the leap to Microsoft's new Xbox and the Nintendo Switch.
On Monday, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association announced a multi-year extension of Sony's licensing deal. "MLB the Show" is one of two baseball games featuring Major League players — The other, "R.B.I. Baseball," is developed by MLB's own in-house video game studio at MLB Advanced Media.
The Sony-owned San Diego Studio has been developing MLB games for more than 20 years. Before changing names in 2006, the "MLB the Show" series was just called "MLB," and until now, the franchise has always been a PlayStation-exclusive. Sony typically keeps games developed by its in-house studios exclusive to PlayStation consoles to protect the value of the brand.
However, the broad appeal of Major League Baseball could lead to much higher sales for "MLB the Show" once it becomes available to the millions of gamers with Xbox and Nintendo consoles for the first time. For Major League Baseball, having its most popular baseball game in front of new audiences will help promote the real product on the field.
It's not exactly clear when the series will appear on other consoles, since "MLB the Show 20" is already in development and scheduled for a March 2020 release on PlayStation 4. The statement announcing the deal said "MLB the Show" could appear on Xbox and the Switch "as early as 2021," but more specific details will be announced in the future.
Sony and Microsoft are both planning to release new video game consoles during the 2020 holiday season, and the Switch has been dominating sales this year. Meanwhile, sports video games have become an increasingly less competitive genre as publishers weigh the cost of licensing and annual releases.
2K Games' "NBA 2K20" is the only major NBA game on the market this season after Electronic Arts cancelled its annual release of "NBA Live" for the second time in four years. 2K stopped making baseball games in 2014, leaving "MLB the Show" largely uncontested. The NFL has had an exclusive licensing deal with EA's "Madden NFL" franchise since 2006. Similarly, EA's "NHL" series has been the sole NHL video game since 2011.
"MLB The Show 20" is set to release for PlayStation 4 in March 2020, and will feature Chicago Cubs star Javier Báez (El Mago) as its cover athlete. Sony will commemorate the 15th anniversary of "MLB The Show" with a variety of unique promotions and new gameplay features next year.
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