Microsoft kicked off this Good Friday with a shocking reveal - MLB The Show 21 will join Xbox Game Pass on launch day later this month. This announcement comes several weeks after the this year's MLB The Show was confirmed to launch on Xbox platforms.
News of the franchise's ending exclusivity on PlayStation originally made the rounds in late 2019, once Sony and the MLB chose to extend their long-standing partnership. While neither organization has shared specifics concerning the renewed deal, reason suggests the new terms may have required Sony to go multiplatform, lest the publisher loses the MLB rights in their entirety. Its hand potentially being forced would certainly explain Sony's caginess about this year's MLB The Show. Yet, regardless of the finer details, one thing is for certain - it sure is strange seeing the PlayStation Studios logo pop up in a trailer for an Xbox release. There are stranger things happening, though.
In an Xbox Wire post, Microsoft announced MLB The Show 21 will launch day-and-date on Xbox Game Pass for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. Android phones and tabloid users will be able to take advantage of the offer, too, thanks to the Xbox Cloud Gaming Beta for Ultimate subscribers. And with cross-platform play already confirmed, Xbox and PlayStation users can begin competing against one another for the first time on the baseball pitch in just a few short weeks. Of course, a Game Pass trailer accompanied the news, complete with the PlayStation Studios logo cropping up moments after the Game Pass animation fades from view.
Times are changing it seems, and they're changing fast. This is nothing short of good news, however. At long last, Xbox players will get their hands on the premiere interactive baseball experience, with all of the new changes and improvements to The Show in tow.
Presently, there are a sea of questions surrounding the logistics of the Game Pass deal, especially since the MLB is publishing MLB The Show 21 on Xbox instead of Sony. Given the caginess of the latter company, those myriad questions are unlikely to ever receive an answer with any real depth.
MLB The Show 21 launches on April 20 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S platforms. Game Pass users on Xbox and Android can play the title on launch day at no extra cost.
Source: Xbox Wire