It has been a long time since a proper baseball simulation game has released on anything other than PlayStation platforms, nearly 7 years to be exact. But for those Xbox players that have been looking for such a game, it looks like your wish is finally coming true. This past Monday, Sony and the MLB announced that MLB The Show will become multi-platform for the first time in its existence. As some of you may know, The Show is the premier baseball game out there, it is a game that is released every year, and gets noticeably better with each entry. It is what Madden and NBA 2K are to their respective sports. The Show could be coming to other platforms as early as 2021. So how was it that a AAA sports game missed out on all the other consoles, when Madden and 2K have always been multiplatform? The reason for that is a long story that is a result of a feud between publishers, during the early 2000’s.
See the full announcement here on Twitter.
When developing a sports game with actual players and an actual league, the companies publishing the game have to work out a deal with the NFL, NBA or any other league to rent their license out to that publisher. This is usually settled with a contract that is signed by the two parties, with certain guidelines on how the publisher can use the license during a specific amount of time.
History of Sports Games
From 1998 to 2004 the Madden franchise was the only game you could play for a quality NFL experience. Madden has always been published by EA and when you think of football games, you primarily think of Madden. 2K was trying to change that narrative; starting in 2000, 2K released their own NFL football game, NFL 2K. They released a game each year for 6 years in a row at the same time that EA was releasing a Madden each year. By the time 2003 rolled around, EA was dominating the sales between the two, and Madden was by all accounts a better video game.
Then came the year 2004, 2K was gearing up to throw a huge curveball in the race between these two publishers. 2K made the bold move to release NFL 2K5 at just $29.99, that’s $20 dollars less that what Madden was going for! This was a great tactic by 2K to try to get as many people to try their game as possible. I was playing these games during this time, and I will always look at NFL 2K5 as possibly the greatest sports game ever made. For a while there, 2K had EA on the ropes; and EA responded by putting a massive price drop on their game as well. In terms of sales, this marketing move for 2K worked very well, NFL 2K5 was beating Madden 2005 in sales, something that had never been done.
So where did NFL 2K go you might be wondering? Well EA pulled a move that only they could, they signed an exclusivity deal with the NFL in December of 2004. This deal made EA the only video game publisher who could release a game with the NFL’s name on it. Quite a cutthroat business move if you ask me. You might be wondering, why am I telling you about Madden when this article is about MLB The Show? Well this move by EA had a massive effect on the future of all sports video games.
EA was developing their own MLB game titled MVP Baseball, it was a solid baseball simulation that didn’t have much competition during its lifetime. But in the following year after EA’s deal with the NFL. 2K decided to make their own MLB game. They wanted to show that they were capable of consistently making better sports simulation games than EA could, and they did. MLB 2K was widely recognized as the better baseball simulation game. EA decided just two years later to stop the development of their MLB game, and that left 2K all alone, on Xbox that is.
PlayStation gamers had the choice between the newer MLB 2K, or they could play MLB The Show, which had been exclusive to the PlayStation platform since its inception in 1997. When compared to MLB 2K, The Show seemed to get the better part of the two in almost every way, and while 2K wasn’t bad by any means, The Show is what baseball fans really wanted to play.
During 2K’s run, they were multiplatform the whole way through, all the way up until 2013 they were on both Xbox and PlayStation consoles. But 2K ran into problems when developing and releasing 2K13. The game was widely criticized for being very nearly the same game as the previous title. The game was met with horrendous reviews and with the license expiring between 2K and the MLB, 2K decided to cut their losses in quite dramatic fashion. If you tried to google anything official of MLB 2K the year after 2K13’s release, you would only find a bunch of crickets. 2K seemed eager to bury any mention of their MLB franchise, and with that, there was only one company left standing.
MLB The Show was the baseball video game that was left on its own. The Show was entirely exclusive, as I mentioned before, and had only been on PlayStation platforms, leaving Xbox and Nintendo players with nothing but a few gimmicky baseball games. While R.B.I baseball made its return in 2014, it was still not enough to satisfy the more dedicated baseball fans out there. The Show was so good that many bought a PlayStation just for it alone, and while that is a good thing for Sony, many fans were curious as to why Xbox couldn’t get a proper baseball game.
Many are aware that Sony has always been late to the party when it comes to playing nice with Nintendo and Xbox. They had a gem in The Show and were not eager to share it with the other platforms. Not everyone can up and buy another console for just one game, so many fans were left spiteful towards Sony. It was left this way for 6 years, and while technically there was an opportunity for another publisher to develop an MLB game, they were strongly dissuaded. The likelihood of Sony not putting up a fight for the MLB license was slim to none.
What it is Today
Now here we are in late 2019, and with Sony’s contract with the MLB expiring soon, we have a huge announcement. MLB The Show will be multiplatform as early as 2021. The MLB shared this news on their Twitter and shortly after, Xbox’s Phil Spencer and the official Nintendo Twitter retweeted the good news. Leading us to believe that it will be coming to both the Xbox Scarlett, and the Nintendo Switch. It won’t come until 2021 at the earliest most likely because of San Diego Studios development cycle. The Show typically comes out in March so it is likely that this upcoming version of the game is nearly finished, and they will be focused on next year’s title to be on multiple platforms.
This is a win for everyone involved in my humble opinion. Sony can add this to its list of recent good decisions that benefit the consumer, and not just them. Sony also recently announced cross compatibility for Minecraft, something that was long overdue. While the decision may be hard for them from a point of pride, this change will do positive things for them financially. With SIE being a first party studio, they will receive a portion of sales for each copy sold. Microsoft and Nintendo finally get a good baseball game, after nearly 7 years. Also the MLB will only profit because their name gets out there for more gamers to see. It is likely that the MLB didn’t give Sony much of a choice in this matter, after all, the license is strictly the MLB’s. But with that being said, when changes like this happen in the video game world, it is good for everyone that it effects. But mostly, it’s good for the players, we now have more options, which is what we all want. Hopefully this continues the trend for more accessibility throughout all of gaming.
