How much did MS pay for this one? Did they pay with Bethesda multi-platform deals? Will this force Sony's hand to improve PS Now when they see how much micro-transactions come in from the GP version?

This is actually insane. I was shocked it was coming to the xbox at all, and I was happily going to buy it. Really would love to know about the wheelings and dealings going on behind this game.

It looks like the game is listed as being published by MLB on the XB version, so it would be SUPER crazy if they paid MLB for the GP inclusion rather than Sony. I really feel like this is bad for them in the PR stand point.

I like that in their trailer for this coming to Game Pass, it also tells you to "Own The Show".

In addition to how nuts this is from a Sony/Microsoft perspective...Game Pass is going off in April. Narita Boy. MLB The Show. Outriders. Throw Octopath Traveler in there for good measure.

That's an absolutely bonkers slate. If you're a casual gamer you can easily, EASILY just have Game Pass and nothing else and have more than you're ever going to play. Honestly it's helping me cut back on my game spending not just because of games I might have bought anyway like Narita Boy, but because there's so much to play I feel like I can wait on everything else.

Just think... all those April 20ths I've spent trying to play a Sony game on my Xbox. Now it'll actually work.

Now what am I going to do with the $100 credit on my account from canceling my pre-order???

@sargon:

Interesting, if predictable, reaction on the subreddit. Already at 300+ comments and at least half of them appear to feel cheated for buying on PlayStation, angry that it’s not also a day one PS+ game, interpreting this as a loss for Sony, no longer interested in looking for a PS5 (The Show was a very quiet sports fan system seller for Sony last generation) and so on.

Most of the other posts speculate about the business with just a few excited for what this means about the robustness of the market and number of new players to the game that might make it easier to rank up in the seasonal activities.

Granted, it’s the internet and a $0* vs $60-$100 proposition, but that sub is usually pretty mild mannered and has been hugely excited about the XBox expansion’s possibilities for budget increases this generation. This is the most upset at the developers and Sony I’ve seen that place in at least four years.

There's no deal with bethesda games

This has nothing to do with Sony. MLB are publishing the game on xbox. Not Sony.

Sony just own the studio thst makes the game. Mlb have the license.

@cubbielover: Bad for who? Sony? I don't see how this is bad PR for MLB or MS if that's what you mean.

Since it's developed by a Sony-owned developer, it seems highly unlikely that MLB would be able to do this deal behind Sony's back without them knowing. So at that point, it's really on Sony for not offering a similar deal for PSNow customers.

@big_denim: Pretty sure he means Sony. Like I said above, the thread about this on the games subreddit is overwhelmingly about canceling PS pre-orders, no longer shopping for a PS5, feeling like Sony takes their longtime customers for granted, etc. And this is the same sub that celebrated the game originally being announced for XBox because its increase the budget for the game going forward and most players buy the $100 digital edition as much as a thank you for how player-minded the card collection is compared to other sports games as considering the bonuses worth it.

A lot of people own a PlayStation primarily for The Show and the consensus among those people is they feel taken advantage of or neglected in some way (yeah, I know, don’t pre order games)

@nodima: I don't understand this at all. How does the game being on Game Pass affect anyone's purchase of the same game on PlayStation, unless you have Game Pass on an Xbox, in which case you just cancel your pre-order and you're fine.

It's the same product on PS5 that it was before this announcement. Nothing has changed for PlayStation owners.

People get angry over the weirdest things. Sony and Microsoft are pursuing different strategies and everyone knows that. It's not like Microsoft is giving the game away for free; you have to subscribe to their service. Meanwhile PS Plus has been on fire recently, so the idea that Sony isn't doing anything is just wrong.

At the end of the day if you bought a PlayStation 5 to play MLB The Show you can still play the game at the exact same price it was offered for previously.

@big_denim:I meant to say that it's nothing but bad for Sony. This is blowing up in the gaming forums, and rightfully so. I feel like Sony needs to do something to help keep this under control (even offering the game at discount).

@bigsocrates: I haven't bought the Show in years (and I am a baseball fan), but I know if I had it pre-ordered, I would cancel in the hopes that Sony will have it cheap quickly since it's "free" on the other system. I know the game is the same, and it doesn't change the quality, but the value of the product goes down considerably when I would pay $70 for a PS5 game that I would play for two-ish months, when I could pay less than half that for the game on the other console for that same time, and get all of the other GP games as well.

@cubbielover: Ahhhh, ya. That makes sense. I agree.

I don't see how this is bad for Sony. Or anyone, for that matter. Microsoft's making a play for a market that was traditionally not theirs to grab. Meanwhile those that have been stanch franchise fans have probably bet with PS5 because it'll be a perceived lead platform.

The overall sales will get a boost from being available on both platforms. Heck, putting it out on GamePass blows the potential wide open for a much larger audience than before.

Who loses out here? Sony because they haven't put it on PS+? The money's coming back to them regardless. Microsoft's never had an MLB title on their system to really factor in so they're getting something from it as well.

For real, just be happy more people have access to a thing.

@shindig: On the contrary, a lot of people that play MLB The Show are sports/Call of Duty people who do most of their multiplayer gaming on XBox or PC. The game's online modes are crossplay so there's no need to seek out the larger player base.

I think this is going to be a really interesting case study going forward, especially with the number of comments I'm seeing that amount to "I wish I could get the game for free then spend the $100 I'm spending on the pre-order directly on packs and players right away instead".

I personally agree it's a little silly to get upset about because I'm going to spend $100 on this game in three weeks and then play nothing else for 800-1,000 hours unless something truly huge like Horizon drops. $1 per 100 hours is an insane RoI so what do I care? But for people that just want to play this game until Madden or Call of Duty drops, and only own a Playstation to get their baseball/fairly balanced fantasy team building economy fix, this news is really riling them up one way or the other.

@shindig: You could also say "Why don't they just charge $30 for the game on all systems, and that way, they can sell more copies and more people can play?" I agree completely that having the game on both consoles is not a bad thing at all. I would LOVE to pay $15 a month for Game Pass on my PS5 to play a couple of games, but it's not happening. MLB the Show '21 was going to be $70 on both platforms, but now Game Pass members can play it for no extra cost, and now the price of $70 seems too high in comparison.

Separate question here.....If the MLB was the deciding factor in putting it on Game Pass (since they are the publisher on the XB), does that mean they also get the micro-transaction money when people buy the "stubs"? Where does that money normally go? Developers or publishers, or a percentage of both?

@cubbielover: Stubs are a normal transaction like any other; you’re booted to the PS Store for the actual transaction and go through all the same hoops you would purchasing a full game/DLC cosmetic.

So I’d imagine Sony San Diego and MLB get paid for MS sales, Sony and SDS for Sony sales. I look at it sort of like a Spider-Man deal where Marvel/MLB is getting paid no matter what but they have a slightly more direct line to the cash licensing Sony’s product for alternative platforms.

Beyond what I said above I’m curious how this will effect the market this year. The past two years have seen things shift to an economy where the only reason to spend real money on stubs was to save time, otherwise just about anything was attainable through play, which is vastly different from other fantasy team building modes.

I HAVE to imagine the markets will be separate across systems despite the cross play due to the transaction fees, but it does make me wonder what the balance will look like between a pair of platforms with vastly different pricing structures.

I read this last night as I was drifting off to sleep and I half didn't think it was real when I woke up this morning. It's so crazy. But boy, am I excited to play this for cheap and on a controller that I like.

@haz_kaj:

Just because MLB may be publishing it on Xbox, that doesn’t mean Sony is out of the loop. They’re the developers, and while the MLB was able to negotiate a deal to put the game on other platforms, I highly doubt they can put it on Game Pass without giving Sony their due. There is likely a floor of how much money Sony is getting out of the deal.

While the perception might be bad for Sony, they’re likely making the same amount of money, if not more, over this deal.

They can easily argue they're due money over developing costs. On the other hand, the only reason they're developing for the Xbox is at MLB's behest.

@big_denim:

Psnow has like 3 million subs and Sony said no 1st day big games

MLB is a top 10 seller for Sony every year. There's no way they'll give it away for free on their system.

Sony do get a lot of money because they own the dev studio. So they'll be paid by MLB who made money from doing a deal from ms.

.

And??? This is hardly news; we knew it was coming to Xbox.

A wider release was part of the deal when MLB renegotiated rights with Sony.

@nameredacted: The news worthy thing here is that it is free for all game pass subscribers, thus undercutting sony's own game on a "rival" system.

Its bullshit i have to pay full price and people are getting it for free

It's no more free than watching Stranger Things or Wandavison is free. Is the concept of a subscription service that hard for people to understand? Gamepass subscribers are paying for that service.

@ll_exile_ll: I mean, I kinda get their frustration, provided it's channeled in the right direction? Like, if someone is angry at Sony for not responding in kind by putting the game on PS Now, I think that's pretty reasonable. So long as we're in this capitalist dystopia, we might as well enjoy the free market competition that comes with it. Just like Sony puts pressure on Microsoft, this should hopefully put pressure on Sony to improve their service.

I mean, anyone that follows the industry knows that Sony and Microsoft are employing two very different strategies. If you're a person that finds the idea of paying a monthly fee for a whole catalogue of games appealing and you don't care that you don't own any of those games, Xbox is for you. If you're a person that wants to own all your games and you don't mind paying full price, Playstation is for you.

I don't know, it just seems kinda silly to get mad at that the platform you have chosen for doing exactly what they've indicated they will do. If someone wants a gamepass type service, gamepass is right there. I understand wishing Sony would offer something comparable, but it's not surprising they aren't. Their strategy has been clear, as has Microsoft's. I feel like at this point anyone getting up in arms that Playstation doesn't have anything close to gamepass is playing on the wrong platform, because clearly what Xbox is offering is more appealing to them.

@ll_exile_ll: I don't really consider Sony the platform of owning games. Don't they also sell most of their games digitally? Didn't they just scare a lot of people with the whole shutdown of PS3/PSP/Vita game sales thing? I wouldn't call "owning games" their identity in any way.

Every game is sold digitally, not sure why you would single out Sony in that regard. Anyway, that's not the point. Compared to gamepass, where there isn't even the pretense of owning anything, digital games are closer to ownership, if imperfect. And you can always buy games physically if ownership is important to you.

The point I was trying to make is that gamepass is a big selling point for Xbox, quite possibly the biggest selling point. If someone wasn't concerned with owning their games and instead wanted access to as many games as possible at the best value, Xbox is the clear choice. Of course you can buy every game physically on Xbox as well, but I feel like the value of gamepass is biggest appeal of Xbox. If the lack of ownership over your library was a concern someone had, I feel like that person is more likely to go Playstation. To be clear, I'm not saying Playstation is a bastion of digital rights, but more that the driving philosophy the Xbox brand is embracing is pretty much that you never own your games.

Playstation is the platform of owning games only insofar as there aren't many other options. PSNow doesn't feature new releases and PS+ gets a handful of games a month which are only rarely new releases. If you're on Playstation you're almost certainly buying most of your games.

@ll_exile_ll: You do know you also have the option to buy games on the Xbox store or via discs? That option did not go away. There is no reason that Sony can't compete with Microsoft in this regard, and it isn't whiny for PlayStation owners to advocate for something that other platforms are doing better. Xbox owners did that with paying to play free-to-play games online, PlayStation owners did that about cross-play. This is just another chapter in companies competing for our attention and dollars. I don't see much issue with that.

Observing the industry is no excuse for lack of imagination. A few days ago most people would have thought it out of the realm of possibility that MLB The Show would debut on Gamepass, now we see that happening. Sony is now demonstrably giving baseball fans a worse deal by not giving them the option to "rent" the game instead of buying it outright. I have no idea how you can spin that as equal but different strategies.

@cubbielover: But it's not "free", you still have to pay for a recurring Game Pass subscription (in addition to owing a capable gaming PC or Xbox console), and if your subscription lapses or the game is removed from Game Pass, it's "bye bye, game!" (unless you bought it).

As someone that has only played the Super Mega Baseball series recently - I used to enjoy a bit of All Star Baseball (but not much) as the options for baseball games were often limited in the UK - is this series any good? I've liked baseball games since the 8-bit era but dropped off when they started to ask too much of me, I got sim fatigue. I know a bit about the history of the game (thank you Ken Burns) but don't really follow the game so I'm not that fussed about the current rosters. Is the main draw of the game getting the current teams and squad micromanagement like Fifa is to football?

The series is quite good, though I feel it has stagnated in terms of improvement for a while (of course, if you've never played it that won't be an issue for you).

The main appeal for most players is either the Road to the Show or Diamond Dynasty. Diamond Dynasty is the Fifa style card collecting online mode, but as @nodima has said in this thread, it is far and away the least predatory of all of these modes across the sports gaming genre. You can play and enjoy the mode without feeling like you need to spend money, and the community market is actually quite cool and takes on a life of its own as the season progresses. The few times I've bought low (with in game currency) on a player, betting correctly he'd have a breakout, to then see this price skyrocket was quite satisfying.

Road to the Show is main single player offering (though of course seasons and franchise still exist). RttS is an RPG style career mode where you create a player and work your way up through the minor leagues, gaining stat points to improve your abilities, with the goal of making it to the MLB and having a successful career. One of cool things about the mode is that you can skip everything your player is not involved in, making actually playing complete 162 game seasons and continuing through multiple seasons something that can reasonably be achieved without investing a billion hours. The progression and core gameplay of this mode is very good, though they are somewhat behind competitors like NBA 2K when it comes to storytelling and emulating more of the pro athlete experience outside of training and playing games.

If you're interested in trying the series out for primarily the single player stuff, I'd recommend picking up an older version on the cheap rather than paying full price for the new one. You're likely to get a very similar experience. The older games often get added to PS+ after the new one comes out as well.

@ll_exile_ll: Thank you, that was very comprehensive, much appreciated! I thought it might be on all GamePass formats, I only have PC GamePass, which it seems The Show isn't coming to for now, so might have to stick to SMB for now - but should it ever venture into an available service I have I might give it a go. The following a single player mode sounds fun, a bit different from the usual ballpark sort of career.

If you plan to play The Show for more than 4 months and it's practically all you play, which I assume most people who buy a system mainly for that game will be doing, then you aren't really losing out. 4 months of Game Pass is $60.

The only thing preventing XBOX One/Series X/S from being the ultimate source for sports games now is no backwards compatibility with the old college games. Only reason my 360 is still hooked up.

@bajiboxer: That's interesting. I also thought about that. I feel like I played past Show games (havent bought one since the Cubs won the WS in 2016) for about 6-8weeks, so the $70 price tag is way too high for me.

I think the issue with Sony adapting a better/newer lineup for PS Now is that Sony doesn't create too many games that have micro-transactions that could help curve the money "lost" by adding a new game to the service rather than selling it at a premium price (especially at the $5 a month price). Most of the PS exclusives are single player narrative games that can be beaten in a couple of weeks, and wouldn't keep most people playing past the first go through.