After Years On PlayStation, MLB The Show Comes To Xbox Game Pass At Launch

It’s been over a year since Sony first announced it would bring the previously exclusive series to PlayStation. MLB the show on Xbox starting in 2021. Today, Microsoft announced even better news for baseball fans who own an Xbox: MLB The Show 21 will be included with an Xbox Game Pass subscription on the day it launches, April 20.

The move means more than 18 million Game Pass subscribers will have free access to the game on Xbox One and Xbox Series X / S, or Android phones via xCloud streaming. This creates a somewhat awkward situation for PlayStation owners, who will have to pay individually for a game developed by Sony San Diego and published by Sony that many Xbox subscribers will be included in their subscription fees.

This is especially notable because Sony has its own subscription service, PlayStation Now, which doesn’t get MLB the show on launch day (from now on, at least). Then again, PlayStation Now has struggled to compare to Game Pass’s “day one” bluster for some time now, especially when it comes to proprietary software. Sony’s recent “Play From Home” initiative and the PlayStation Plus collection have recently opened access to some titles released by Sony, but these too have revolved around outdated software.

MLB the show Also further establishes major sports games as a key part of the Xbox Game Pass value proposition. NBA 2K21 and Madden 21 both joined the subscription service on March 4, and NHL 21 will arrive on Game Pass in April. These games were available for months before becoming part of the subscription service, which made MLB the showThe availability of launch day on Game Pass is all the more notable.

“Like we said from the start, this is an amazing time for all of us, and bringing the franchise to more baseball players and fans is something that we all are passionate about at MLB, MLB Players, Inc. and Xbox, ”Microsoft said in its announcement today. “We can’t wait for Xbox fans to experience the fastest, deepest and most intense baseball action yet.”

Sony MLB the show The franchise has been a platform-exclusive selling point since the days of the original PlayStation, when it was simply titled MLB 98. The series is the only MLB licensed baseball simulation video game since 2K Sports announced the end of the MLB2K series early 2014.

“This is a very exciting time for all of us, as the famous franchise will be available to more players than before,” Sony said in February when officially confirming the Xbox versions of the game. “We would like to thank everyone. world on PlayStation, Xbox, Major League Baseball, Major League Baseball Players Association and the San Diego Studio for working diligently to bring MLB the show to more users. “

Last year saw some old PlayStation exclusives Horizon: Zero Dawn and Death Stranding launch on PC, the latter published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Microsoft, meanwhile, recently confirmed that at least “some” upcoming Bethesda titles will be exclusive to Xbox consoles and the PC following the publisher’s $ 7.5 billion acquisition.