Although news of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s MLB: The Show losing its PlayStation exclusivity broke in 2019, it still came as a surprise when it was announced that MLB: The Show 2021 would arrive on Xbox Game Pass at launch. Now, the reasoning behind this landmark decision has been revealed.
“As part of the goal for this year’s game, MLB decided to bring the franchise to more players and baseball fans,” a PlayStation rep told Inverse. “This decision provides a unique opportunity to further establish MLB The Show as the premier brand for baseball video games.”
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Omdia Principal Analyst George Jijiashbvili elaborated on this, saying, “This is all about MLB finding a bigger audience, which took precedence over console manufacturer jousting.” Ampere Analysis Research Director Piers Harding-Rolls added that, “From MLB’s point of view, this makes commercial sense as it opens up the content to a lot more players, especially in the US, but also keeps the established studio working on the game. I’m sure [MLB] has been watching the in-game monetization of other sports games franchises such as Madden and FIFA with interest and is thinking about audience reach rather than premium sales in this case.”
MLB: The Show has been a PlayStation Exclusive since the first iteration of the title in 2006. However, in 2019, it was revealed that after MLB: The Show 2020, the game would be available for the first time ever on Microsoft’s rival Xbox consoles. These editions will be published by MLB Advanced Media rather than SIE.
Developed by San Diego Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment and MLB Advanced Media, MLB: The Show 2021 goes on sale April 20.
Source: Inverse
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