The post is a the latest iteration of the Xbox Excellence Awards, which was created last year to celebrate how players engaged with various releases on Xbox. The Store Rating category lists 2025 games with the best ratings on the Microsoft Store, with an added requirement of the title having at least 500 ratings. Player Engagements is about the average number of hours spent on a game by each player within the first six weeks of a game’s release. Daily Active Users celebrates titles, expansions or updates with the highest single-day active users throughout the year. And finally Units Sold is fairly self-explanatory.

Going down the lists, you’ll find many of the biggest releases of the year, from ARC Raiders and Battlefield 6, as well as award-winning RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Indie titles have also been well-represented, with games like Crime Scene Cleaner and Satisfactory making it into the lists. There also doesn’t seem to have been a singular genre to dominate the lists, since everything from sports games like EA Sports Madden NFL 26, to fantasy adventure life sims like Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, and even fighting games like Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics are well represented.

Curiously, none of the games was present in all four of the categories. At most, we got to see titles like Borderlands 4 being able to make it on to three of them: Player Engagement, Daily Active Users and Units Sold. Even ARC Raiders, which has seen quite a bit of success, is only on the Units Sold and Daily Active Users lists.

Microsoft has also emphasized that the lists represent a diverse collection of games developed by studios of varying sizes. All in all, it represents 48 unique developers based out of 13 countries, with 24 publishers having had a hand in their release. 19 of the games were self-published. “Taken as a whole, it’s an encapsulation of development on Xbox – we want gaming to reach you wherever you are, and for the teams making those games to find you from wherever they are,” wrote the company.

Full list of games:

Store Rating:

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Crime Scene Cleaner
• Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2
• Digimon Story: Time Stranger
• Dreamcore
• Dynasty Warriors: Origins
• Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
• Final Fantasy XVI
• Lies of P: Overture
• Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
• Little Nightmares III
• Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics
• Minami Lane
• Mullet MadJack
• Poppy Playtime Chapter 4
• Satisfactory
• Silent Hill 2
• Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds
• The First Berserker: Khazan

Player Engagement:

• Borderlands 4
• Digimon Story: Time Stranger
• Dynasty Warriors: Origins
• EA Sports College Football 26
• EA Sports FC 26
• Elden Ring Nightreign
• Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
• Farm Together 2
• Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles
• Helldivers 2
• Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
• Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
• MLB The Show 25
• Monster Hunter Wilds
• NBA 2K26
• NHL 26
• Rust
• Satisfactory
• The First Berserker: Khazan

Daily Active Users:

• Arc Raiders
• Avowed
• Battlefield 6
• Borderlands 4
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
• DOOM: The Dark Ages
• Elden Ring Nightreign
• Fortnite
• Forza Horizon 5
• Grand Theft Auto V
• Grounded 2
• Helldivers 2
• Marvel Rivals
• Minecraft
• NBA 2K26
• Rematch
• Roblox
• Rocket League
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege

Units Sold:

• Arc Raiders
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows
• Battlefield 6
• Borderlands 4
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
• EA Sports Madden NFL 26
• EA Sports College Football 26
• EA Sports FC 26
• Elden Ring Nightreign
• Grand Theft Auto V
• Helldivers 2
• Hollow Knight: Silksong
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
• MLB The Show 25
• Monster Hunter Wilds
• NBA 2K26
• PGA Tour 2K25
• Ready or Not
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
• WWE 2K25

Even just the title of the job listing indicates that Sony is looking to bring the baseball game franchise to PC in the future, and further descriptions of the job indicate that the company wants to ensure that it is a solid port, complete with support for features from both Nvidia and AMD.

The main responsibility of the Senior Graphics PC Programmer would revolve around “writing and optimizing our PC engine, debugging performance issues, implementing new graphics features, and ensuring the game takes full advantage of platform specific technologies offered by Nvidia and AMD.” While the listing doesn’t really mention MLB The Show by name, it is referred to throughout the description as a AAA PC title.

“We are seeking a Senior PC Graphics Programmer to join our team in advancing the visual and technical quality of a AAA PC title,” reads the job listing. “In this role, you will be responsible for developing and optimizing real-time graphics systems specifically for PC, ensuring robust performance and high visual fidelity across a wide range of hardware configurations.”

As part of the responsibilities of the role, Sony also notes that the person taking up the job should also be able to “ensure compatibility and performance” across a wide range of PC hardware, for audiences on both higher-end systems as well low-specced PCs. Along with this, the PC port of MLB The Show will also seemingly feature technologies like ray tracing and variable rate shading, among other things.

The most recent title in the franchise was MLB The Show 25, which was released earlier this year on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch. It also happened be the first title in the franchise to not be a cross-generation release that also made its way on to PS4 and Xbox One. The game features Paul Skenes, Elly De La Cruz and Gunnar Henderson as its cover athletes.

Among the host of new features that were brought to the series with MLB The Show 25 include new gameplay options like advanced movement, fielding animations and fielding changes courtesy of revamps to physics-based player movements. The title also brought with it the new Ambush Hitting mechanic which the studio has described as emulating a real Major League hitter. Players after a more immersive experience can also make use of the new first-person view available in the Road to the Show mode.

All of these features, among many others, were wrapped in a graphical overhaul over the game’s predecessors thanks to more realistic lighting, sharper textures, and a higher level of detail in player models. For more details about MLB The Show 25, check out our review.

MLB The Show 25, Sony San Diego Studio’s premier flagship franchise, understands this. In terms of recreating the magic, the atmosphere, the drama, and the rich history that the sport has to offer, very few titles have been able to match it. This year marks some much-needed improvements and new additions, to say nothing of the incredible animations, but it’s still very much an evolutionary upgrade rather than a sweeping revolution. Not that there’s anything wrong with that since its gameplay and presentation are some of the most polished available despite some quirks.

"Storylines enters Season 3 and focuses on several more legendary African-American players, including James “Cool Papa” Bell, Wilber “Bullet Joe” Rogan, and Norman “Turkey” Stearnes."

If you’re making the jump from MLB The Show 24, much of this will look familiar. Road to the Show returns, this time allowing players to start from high school, finishing strong in that playoffs to hopefully get scouted from a worthwhile college. Dynamic Challenges spice things up, introducing new goals to complete for more rewards, including Tokens, which are used to upgrade different Tools representing your player’s various talents. You can also modify the respective attributes in each if you really want to min-max in a specific field. It’s a noteworthy addition, and despite not breaking new ground or overhauling things, Road to the Show suffices as a decent career mode.

March to October still allows for taking a team, be it underdogs and diamonds in the rough to fan favorites and rising stars, through an entire season with high stakes and drama. Diamond Dynasty introduces a new rogue-like mode, Diamond Quest, for those keen on even more single-player action. You essentially assemble your squad of players on board with random tiles, take any number of steps, and complete the required challenges, including boss showdowns. Failing means receiving penalties that impact your performance, and you can also earn Peanuts to purchase boons. Though it’s probably not everyone’s cup of tea, I find the mode novel, but after spending dozens of hours grinding Simulated Universe, I would expect a much faster flow.

Storylines enters Season 3 and focuses on several more legendary African-American players, including James “Cool Papa” Bell, Wilber “Bullet Joe” Rogan, and Norman “Turkey” Stearnes. It doesn’t take too long to navigate the various episodes, but it’s arguably the highlight of MLB The Show 25. Completing challenges as each legend at different stages of their careers with real-life quotes, live-action footage, and even animated illustrations is a magical experience. You truly gain a new appreciation for the sheer talent and excitement that existed outside of the big leagues at the time.

From the outset, jumping in and customizing my preferred control schemes for each aspect of the sports from fielding and batting to pitching and running, couldn’t have been easier. The Plate Coverage Indicator seemed the best option initially for precisely lining up hits. After extensive failures with that and the timed button presses, I eventually settled on the right analog stick for swings. The feedback is still immediate and extensive with precise data on late and early hits on top of details on preferred pitching spots from the opposition.

"It’s somewhat of a shame that the graphics haven’t evolved much. Compared side by side to MLB The Show 24, players look pretty much identical, save for some missing facial hair."

Finding the right timing can be challenging, even if a simple bunt is enough to create an opportunity. Still, the sheer amount of outfielders who capably caught my Power shots felt a little too high, even on lower difficulties. It wasn’t enough to stifle the tension, but the AI is unusually on point more often than I’d like. They’re not typically as capable in batting, but maybe it was because I took more comfortably to the meter-based approach. The fact that well-timed pitches could still be successfully hit and the key lay in keeping my opponents guessing, at times intentionally pitching early or late, made for some fun strategizing.

Regardless of your approach and control scheme, there’s no denying that MLB The Show 25 nails it in terms of atmosphere. The commentary can repeat some lines on occasion (hello, “Swing and a ground ball base hit, right field,” my old friend). However, it still flows naturally, especially in Storylines when offering up facts about each player.

The excitement of the crowd, coupled with the broadcast-style presentation, the electric organ, the choice songs, and the bated breath between each pitch – everything meshes together to create this infectious atmosphere. There’s also no denying the sheer tension when it’s the bottom of the ninth (or close enough), the bases are full (or nearly), and you need that one solid hit to send the crowd home happy. Conversely, missing everything and giving away runs feels about as awful as it would in real life.

However, it’s somewhat of a shame that the graphics haven’t evolved much. Compared side by side to MLB The Show 24, players look pretty much identical, save for some missing facial hair. Don’t fix what isn’t broken, and all that, and the animation quality is still extremely well done, though avoid paying too much attention to the facial animations in Road to the Show. Even the stadiums look incredibly detailed, despite a few inaccuracies here and there, but if you’ve been waiting years for a true jump in visual fidelity, this isn’t it. For what it’s worth, this is still a good-looking game, but we’re a long way from the series heralded for its earth-shattering fidelity.

"Time will tell if San Diego Studio truly overhauls the formula next year or sticks to its guns, offering up more of the same quality content with its own hiccups."

Despite both long-running complaints, MLB The Show is still the premier baseball series, even if this year’s iteration isn’t the undisputed king. The unmistakable atmosphere, combined with the sound design, signature movements and details unique to each player, and smooth controls make it worth experiencing, hiccups and all. Maybe not as much for those burned out on last year’s iteration or expecting massive changes, but it feels like an essential experience for any baseball fan.

The sheer love and enthusiasm seen in Storylines, which dives into some of the biggest legends of the sport; the robust Road to the Show and March to October; the new Diamond Quest; and much more all come together into a solid baseball sim with the same solid gameplay that fans know, love, and are probably sick of. Time will tell if San Diego Studio truly overhauls the formula next year or sticks to its guns, offering up more of the same quality content with its own hiccups. But as it stands, MLB The Show 25 does a pretty good job holding down the fort.

This game was reviewed on PlayStation 5.

Biggest year-on-year improvement

According to a report by Forbes, sources close to MLB The Show 25 developer San Diego Studio have heard ‘loud and clear’ the criticism levied at its 2024 effort and have vowed to make this year’s iteration feel “like a fan-appreciation version” of the long-running baseball sim, promising the biggest leap in year-on-year improvement since the series began. Showing confidence in their efforts, the studio has opted not to release The Show 25 day one on Game Pass, the idea presumably to capitalise on predicted sales. Of course, there is potential Sony is reluctant to list 25 on Game Pass but, given SD Studio’s optimism, it’s absence might be the former.

Graphical overhaul

MLB The Show isn’t a series renowned for graphical improvements year-on-year, so with The Show 25 SD Studio have opted to give on-field fidelity some overdue care and attention by crafting more realistic lighting, sharpening textures, and enhancing detail in player models. These graphical licks of paint can be seen in dynamically swaying jersey fabric and the intricate stitching on balls and gloves. An upgraded stadium environment brings the atmosphere of onlooking fans closer to the real thing too.

Gameplay updates 1 – Advanced movement, fielding animations, and fielding changes

Alongside graphical overhauls, SD Studio have placed player movement – particularly fielding animations – under the microscope, revamping player physics via fine-tuning motion capture and by including hundreds of new animations – robbing home runs, diving catches, quick base tags, and hotshot catches, and more. Of the gameplay footage shared thus far we can see player movement is more naturally fluid than previous entries, but furthermore these animation advances translate to refinements in gameplay via new infielder reaction time animations, with three tiers of movements – from sluggish to quick – depending on fielder reaction attributes. Coloured arrows at the fielder’s feet indicate what kind of jump they’ll do alongside their reaction times too: yellow for okay, green for good, blue for perfect.

Gameplay updates 2 – Ambush Hitting

Amongst the most notable gameplay updates coming to MLB The Show 25 is the all-new Ambush Hitting, a new mechanic SD Studio claim emulates a real Major League hitter. From the batter’s box, you’ll choose which side of the home plate the pitcher is going to attack. Guess correctly and the plate coverage indicator grows granting more opportunity to hit the PCI sweet spot via reducing overall difficulty settings. Guess wrong and the opposite occurs: perfect swings become tougher to execute via larger PCI penalties and reduced timing windows.

Gameplay updates 3 – First-person view

MLB The Show 25’s Road to the Show, this year, will add a first-person perspective to fielding so you can experience through the eyes what it’s like to line up a cut-off throw from the outfield, outing a runner with a precise, well-paced lob to your basemen. This feature can be toggled on and off with ease, and functions when you are locked into a player. Numerous player-lock moments for baserunners and catchers exist, with cut off control and quick time events sharpening up gameplay.

Gameplay updates 4 – Smarter AI

In an effort to minimise predictable play patterns MLB The Show 25 harbours smarter AI.
Your team will dynamically adjust to your playstyle, making better baserunning and fielding decisions which will boost immersion whilst reducing frustration.

Road to the Show

Road to the Show promises to be a deeper and more personal experience in MLB The Show 25. The game introduces Path to 99 Progression, which grants full control of your custom character progression from the moment they first step out onto the pitch to their Hall of Fame induction. Playing games earns tokens which can be invested into specific attributes. Succeed in key moments and you’ll unlock always on perks which can be enhanced by pairing with equipment. Numerous career paths can be unlocked based on in-game actions, training, and interviews, influencing college teams and future draft picks. The journey to the top is in your hands.

Franchise mode updates

At the time of this feature’s creation SD Studio are still to reveal all that they have in store for MLB The Show 25’s Franchise Mode but what we know so far is the front office experience has received some refinement, especially during off-season with players able to manage dynamic sponsorship deals, stadium upgrades, and balance budgets against real-world economic challenges. New analytical data showcasing player form and stadium attendance now exists to aid better financial decision making.

Expanded Diamond Dynasty

The historic line-ups comprising Diamond Dynasty have been expanded with teams and legends from the 1950s to 1970s offering new ways to construct your dream roster. Further revamps are coming in the shape of sets and seasons being removed, bringing the experience closer to other sports sims like Madden or NBA 2K, alongside two new game modes: Diamond Quest and Weekend Classic, the former being a highly competitive multiplayer mode for experienced players.

New difficulty setting: G.O.A.T.

Yeah, using the term GOAT is a tad cringy in 2025 but, alas, The Show 25 features a brand new, ultra-tricky difficulty setting dubbed GOAT. Promising to challenge you in ways that have never occurred before: faster fast balls, tighter swing timing windows, bigger breaks of off-speed pitches, and The Show’s smallest ever PCI are here to separate the exceptional from the great.

Negro Leagues season 3

Narrated by Hall of Fame legend Bob Kendrick, Negro Leagues returns for its third season this year, with its strapline to tell the stories of “some of the greatest players you’ve never heard of” truer than ever thanks to enhanced storylines – a chance to learn history through interacting gameplay and narrative.

Pre-order bundles

As always, there’re numerous editions which are available for pre-order now. MLB The Show 25’s standard edition is priced at $69.99 and comes with the base game plus five The Show packs to use in Diamond Dynasty mode. For the same price, there is also a limited-edition physical copy which alongside the standard digital edition includes a trading card featuring one of the game’s three cover stars. The $99.99 digital deluxe edition features double daily rewards, twenty show packs, one anniversary pack, one diamond choice packs, five gold choice packs, an equipment pack, a cover athlete bat skin, 20k stubs, plus 4-day early access. Note, the Nintendo Switch versions are priced at a tenner cheaper than those already quoted. There’s even a $129.99 Collector’s Edition available which includes physical collectibles and premium digital bonuses.

In-game microtransactions

Stubs, packs, and other in-game features will be purchasable via microtransactions in MLB The Show 25, and whilst not mandatory, or indeed pay-to-win, competitive players might get some mileage out of these micro purchases to enhance their team quicker than earning all the extras organically. Special themed packs tied to MLB history might be worth the punt if they’re especially desirable and rare.

Trio of cover athletes

This year, the main cover athlete is standout infielder Gunnar Henderson, and the ultra-popular player is a firm choice for MLB The Show 25 given his pedigree as a serial winner and future face of the sport. Alongside Henderson is up-and-comer Elly De La Cruz and commanding pitcher Paul Skenes.

Release date and platforms

MLB The Show 25 is set to release March 18^th, with early access coming four days earlier on March 14^th for those who’ve pre-ordered. Playable platforms include PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch. Currently, there is no PC version.

Details on this year’s improvements haven’t yet been revealed. Sony has confirmed, however, that Paul Skenes, Elly De La Cruz, and Gunnar Henderson will serve as this year’s cover athletes. The trio will adorn the game’s covers to commemorate the MLB The Show series’ 20th anniversary. Check out the cover athlete reveal trailer below. 

MLB The Show 25 will launch for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch on March 18. Unlike previous years, it won’t be a cross-gen release nor available via Game Pass day and date. However, those who purchase the Digital Edition can start playing the game four days before release, on March 14. 

If you’ve played The Show before, this year’s entry will be familiar to you. On the offensive side of the ball, developers San Diego Studio have chosen to not fix what isn’t broken, providing very few significant changes to gameplay. In fact, aside from the annual updates to the score bug and on-screen icons, it’s difficult to differentiate this year’s hitting from last year’s. The same applies to pitching, which has virtually identical gameplay to past years, though a few quality-of-life improvements under the hood make themselves known, including a few new additions to Pinpoint Pitching, hitters no longer feeling like they foul off an unreasonable number of pitches, and the aforementioned pitch clock keeping the pace up. It’s not a terrible decision to keep these mechanics mostly unchanged, as they still offer a ton of variety and difficulty options, including dynamic difficulty settings, but it certainly isn’t reinventing the wheel.

"The Show 24 shows signs of relying too much on the past, with marginal gameplay improvements and its main new content a continuation of the Storylines mode introduced last year, but its charm, tight gameplay, and wide-ranging suite of modes remain to make MLB The Show 24 another great entry into the franchise."

Defensively, there are some more noticeable changes, particularly in the animations. On top of those carried over from past iterations, defenders at all positions have a lot more variety in how they act during a play. A shortstop might, for example, go behind the back with a toss to second when turning a double play, while an outfielder may throw himself into a tumble when trying to throw out a runner tagging up. These animations, combined with better visuals and consistently excellent broadcast, provide an improved presentation to this year’s game. Defense has also added a new mechanic on significant long throws, introducing a quicktime event that has you tap a sequence of buttons correctly to make an accurate deep throw, like a shortstop throwing from the hole or a right fielder throwing to third base. Again, none of these changes make the actual gameplay materially different from past years, but at least on defense there’s some more variety to how things play out and a slight tweak in skill needed for some of the more difficult plays.

Evidently, then, the biggest change in The Show this year comes in the level of content and the various way through which you can engage with this historic game. Last year introduced the Storylines mode with a focus on the Negro Leagues, allowing you to play through key moments as some of the League’s best players and learn about their stories. The Negro Leagues Storylines are back this year, with four of last year’s notable omissions available at launch, like the slugging catcher Josh Gibson and the all-time great Hank Aaron. These four players are a good start to build on last year, and despite having a disappointingly short runtime to complete all four of them, San Diego Studio has promised six additional players as post-launch content.

To complement the new Negro Leagues players, the biggest net-new content in this year’s Storylines follows the career of Yankees great Derek Jeter. The mode brings you along in the progression of the shortstop’s career, beginning at his Major League debut in 1995 and concluding with the Yankees third consecutive World Series championship in 2000. Like with the Negro Leagues Storylines, each step in this story combines a simple objective, like get multiple hits in a game or drive in a run, with a context-setting clip that documents the real-life events, all packaged into an authentic and charming New York City subway-themed presentation. Jeter himself sits down to be interviewed in many of these, and it’s surprisingly interesting to hear his personal perspectives on many of his career’s major events. Of course, Jeter’s career didn’t end in 2000, and the latter half of his career is also promised as post-launch content additions, which makes this engaging story feel unfortunately incomplete at launch.

"The biggest change in The Show this year comes in the level of content and the various way through which you can engage with this historic game."

In addition to the expanded focus on some of the game’s most historic and important players, MLB The Show 24 also increases the inclusion of women in this year’s game. For one, there are more female analysts providing insight before and after games. Most notably, though, Road to the Show now allows you to choose from playing as either a male or female ballplayer, though very little actually changes about the mode depending on your choice. If you choose to play as a woman, you have some specific moments where you’re congratulated on your achievements, primarily on things like being the first woman drafted by an MLB team or the first to play in an MLB game.

Otherwise, though, the process of Road to the Show hasn’t changed much. The biggest addition is the new Draft Combine, which allows you to participate in hitting and fielding drills as well as three games to attempt to improve your draft stock. Of course, you’ll still always be placed right into AA and can even choose which team you go to, but it’s a nice addition to more accurately match the real-life draft process.

The rest of the game modes remain relatively consistent with past years. Diamond Dynasty returns as always as baseball’s Ultimate Team equivalent, and while the Storylines in particular give you some nice rewards, the mode is still littered with microtransactions that can take over the experience if you’re not willing to put in the time to grind. March to October returns, too, as the best way to play a full season of a franchise mode in a condensed timeframe, and it actually feels a bit more diverse in what it asks you to do. The objectives themselves are the same, from pulling off a comeback win to give your team some momentum to playing as a minor league prospect to speed up their development, but the objectives feel like they don’t repeat quite as often, which made me feel a bit more engaged in bringing a championship back to my beloved Cubs.

"The Show continues to try to innovate annually as much as possible, and while this year’s improvements are small, its clear respect to baseball’s history make it another must-play for baseball fans."

Overall, MLB The Show 24 isn’t a reinvention of the series by any stretch. Its gameplay features only marginal improvements over previous years, and there aren’t any significant new modes or ways to play that change how you engage with the sport. However, the suite of modes that The Show brings to the table year after year allow you to play the game in virtually any way you’d like, whether it’s a player lock, a consolidated season, or a full-scale general manager, and it balances the returning content with new and welcome additions that honor baseball’s past through its Storylines. The Show continues to try to innovate annually as much as possible, and while this year’s improvements are small, its clear respect to baseball’s history make it another must-play for baseball fans.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

Release date

Obvious one out of the way first, MLB The Show 24 will be out Worldwide on March 19^th. Baseball enthusiasts and console owners rejoice, as San Diego Studio’s latest baseball sim will be available on past and current-gen PlayStation and Xbox, plus MLB The Show 24 will be available on Nintendo Switch for both in-home and out-and-about gaming. Alas, if you’re a PC owner you’re out of luck for now as there is currently no Windows version announced.

Editions

This year, there are three special editions of MLB The Show that fans can pre-order, as well as the basic version of the game. The first tier is the MVP Edition which includes numerous bonus items such as 1 Legend Diamond Choice Pack, 10 The Show Packs, and so on. Next level up is the Digital Deluxe Edition which provides all the MVP content plus some extras. The top tier, dubbed The Negro Leagues Edition, is essentially this year’s collector’s pack, including everything in the two lower rungs plus limited-edition physical steel book and new era cap. An oddity of note though is that the PS5 version of the collector’s edition does not come with a physical disc despite including the steel book. You’d need to order on Xbox Series X|S to get a disc with The Negro Leagues Edition.

Early access

One crucial point to note for those looking to gain early access to this year’s title is that they must pre-order one of the three special editions. Pre-ordering the basic game will not give you early access, which this year will begin on 15^th March 2024. Pre-orders can be made now, so don’t delay if you’re after getting into the swing of this year’s edition earlier than everyone else.

Cover star

One of the most anticipated aspects of any sports sim game release is who the developer will choose for their cover star. Well, this year it is none other than Toronto Blue Jays athlete Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The son of a Hall of Famer, Jr. is the Blue Jays’ designated hitter, a rising star who was voted the youngest ever MVP to the AL All-Star roster in 2021.

Negro Leagues

Appearing for the first time last year, MLB The Show 24 will continue its partnership with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum with the return of players from the Negro Leagues. This year’s edition features ten new Negro League Legends, each with their own distinct storyline to play through. This game mode puts players in the shoes of important baseball legends, with the chance to recreate the events of some of the most pivotal games of their careers.

Features

Diamond Dynasty, whereby players can create fantasy teams comprising legends gone and current stars from the world of baseball returns for 24. The series’ career mode Road to the Show, with player’s progressing from minor league to MLB and tournaments, will of course be included too. Storyline mode and franchise mode round out the expected features returning for this year’s iteration.

Franchise mode

Winning the World Series is the ultimate goal for any baseball team, and for MLB The Show 24 players will yet again get their chance to lead their chosen franchise to glory. Through coaching, developing the squad, and acting as franchise manager, players will again exert control over the on and off-pitch dealings of their chosen team to eventually get them to the top of the rankings.

Storyline mode

MLB The Show’s storyline mode gives players chance to learn, experience, and celebrate the legacy of baseball legends. This year the legend featured is New York Yankees great – and MLB The Show 23 cover star – Derek Jeter. A fantastic feature overall, this year’s storyline will give players chance to re-enact Jeter’s most challenging and iconic moments via an immersive career retrospective.

New legends

Alongside Derek Jeter’s unique storyline there are a host of new legends being introduced in the Negro Leagues Storylines: Buck Leonard, Hank Aaron, Josh “The Black Babe Ruth” Gibson, and Toni Stone, the first woman to play professional baseball at the highest level. More are likely to be revealed the closer we get to MLB The Show 24’s release date. These four revealed will be available at launch, with ten legends in total expected.

New and reintroduced stadiums

Derek Jeter’s playable storyline begins with his debut at Seattle’s Kingdome which San Diego Studio have painstakingly recreated to include it in this year’s addition after a few years out. At least one other new stadium is expected, although don’t rule out more. That stadium is Greenlee Field in Pittsburgh, and will be the venue for one of the Storylines focus on the Pittsburgh Crawfords.

Overhauled menus

Often an over-looked aspect of any video game, in-game menus afford players a seamless, easy experience when done right, and MLB The Show 24’s overhauled menu system looks to be just that. It’s not just a splash of colour to give additional vibe to Storylines, but it’s slick, modern, and simpler to navigate too.

No tech test

Unlike MLB The Show 22 and 23, this year’s addition will not offer players access to a tech test before the game’s release. Essentially an open beta whereby players can get a feel for the upcoming iteration and its gameplay tweaks, the lack of tech test this year may imply that, in actual fact, there’s very little differentiation in gameplay between last year’s version and this. We’ll have to wait and see once 24 releases. Of course, no tech test could also indicate a confidence in the gameplay, with San Diego Studio not feeling like it’s necessary. The tight schedule from announcement to release date might also have played a part.

Crossplay and cross-progression return

Crossplay will be back for this year’s MLB The Show giving gamers chance to play with their mates on other platforms. Cross-progression will also be an option, giving players chance to play the game on one platform before continuing their progression on another. Worth noting though is year-to-year saves won’t be a thing again.

Stadium creator returns

Yes, one of MLB The Show’s favourite features the stadium creator returns for this year’s iteration, although it’s available on current-gen consoles only.

Feature premieres

Every week leading up to the launch of MLB The Show 24 San Diego Studio will provide an informative video which will highlight new features and generally act as opportunities for the developer to reveal new stuff. At the time of writing, multiple premieres have already happened, but four are still planned. San Diego Studio haven’t provided much detail on what’s going to be included in each presentation though, but the dates for your calendar are 13^th March for the dev tournament, and 14^th March for a final feature premiere.

MLB The Show 24 will feature Toronto Blue Jays player Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as its cover athlete, and will be available in the form of a standard edition, as well as a Collector’s Edition, which is set to be unveiled on February 6.

MLB The Show 24 will feature all of the game modes that fans of the franchise can expect, with an emphasis on the history of baseball through the Storylines mode. Through the mode, players will be able to experience career-defining moments from throughout the history of the sport.

The game will also feature the Road to the Show mode, which allows players to become a baseball player and play through an entire career, starting from the minors and eventually cementing their legacy as a player in the major leagues. Fans of the management aspects of sports will also be able to try their hand in the Franchise mode, where they can manage, build, and lead their team of choice to winning the World Series.

Along with its multi-platform release, MLB The Show 24 will also feature cross-platform multiplayer for both competitive modes, as well as its co-op modes.

Hitting Style Settings

There are three different types of Swing Input in the Settings, and these determine what exactly must be pressed or pulled to initiate a swing of the bat.

• Buttons, one for each of the three types of swing:
  • Contact Swing: Circle (PS), B (XB)
  • Normal Swing: X (PS), A (XB)
  • Power Swing: Square (PS), X (XB)
• Analog Sticks, where pushing in one of the four cardinal directions determines swing type:
• Contact Swing: Right Stick Up
• Normal Swing: Right Stick Left or Right
• Power Swing: Right Stick Down, then flick Up
• Analog Stride, using both buttons and sticks in conjunction, where swing type is pre-determined by you using the buttons before the pitch is thrown, and then using the sticks to time the swing just right
• Cue Contact Swing before pitch delivery: Circle (PS), B (XB)
• Cue Normal Swing before pitch delivery: X (PS), A (XB)
• Cue Power Swing before pitch delivery: Square (PS), X (XB)
• Swing: Right Stick Down to begin batter stride followed by RS Up to initiate swing

While Analog Stride is the most rewarding, it is also obviously the hardest, and the effort would be better served being put into mastering the Hitting Interfaces, and simply using the Buttons for Swing Input.

There are three different types of Hitting Interface, in order of difficulty:

• Timing, the simplest, is merely a matter of pressing the button corresponding to the swing type of your choosing. Recommended for beginners and casual players, this one’s results are random and cannot be controlled by you. There isn’t any surefire timing to getting a home run, and you’ll barely get much distance on ground balls.
• Directional, combines timing with letting you observe where the incoming pitch is going to be in the strike zone and then using the left stick to determine ball flight post-hit. A good bridge to the Zone method. Recommend turning off the jarring Directional Camera Shifting under Settings, to spare your senses
• Zone, is what players should evolve to eventually. A complex system with several settings to tweak aesthetically, Zone allows hitters to actively determine where the bat is going to swing in real time, through the use of the Plate Coverage Indicator (PCI). Timing remains a factor, as does swing type, but this Hitting Interface gives the player absolute control over hitting pitches. An onscreen reticle consisting of two pairs of concentric arcs can be positioned within the PCI at your discretion. Ideally, having the ball fly within the smaller, inner pair will produce the best result. Vertical placement will determine where your batted balls go: aiming low produces pop-ups, while aiming high results in ground balls. Post-contact with the ball, an inset will appear in the bottom left displaying immediate feedback on your swing and timing, as well as how accurate you were with your PCI placement of the reticle using a snapshot of the PCI, the reticle, and the final position of the ball itself.

How To Hit A Homerun

Tip the scales in your favor for hitting a homer out of the park, by tweaking the control and visual interface settings of your game:

• Avoid the catcher camera, and choose between one of the strike zone cameras instead, preferably one that’s tight up against the batter, and magnifies the pitcher to the maximum on screen. With the strike zone filling your screen, it’s far easier to see the incoming pitch, and react accordingly
• Tweak the onscreen display of the PCI to your liking, so that its colors are easy to see and indicators easy to interpret. Disable PCI Fadeout, so you can quickly assess your hits and misses
• Use the Analog Stride Swing Input method in conjunction with the Zone Hitting Interface to exert complete and absolute control over your swings

Fielding Style Settings

Introduced for the first time this year in MLB: The Show 23 is the new Button Accuracy Throwing Interface. It is one of three Throwing Interfaces available:

• Buttons where the four bases of a baseball diamond correspond perfectly to the face buttons on the controllers
• Throw to Cutoff: L1 (PS), LB (XB)
• Throw to Home: X (PS), A (XB)
• Throw to 1st Base: Circle (PS), B (XB)
• Throw to 2nd Base: Triangle (PS), Y (XB)
• Throw to 3rd Base: Square (PS), X (XB)
• Analog where directional pushing on the right thumbstick corresponds to bases on the diamond. Both Buttons and Analog rely solely on the statistical value of the fielder’s Arm Accuracy attribute, rather than any player intervention
• Button Accuracy gives players full control over fielding with quick-reaction minigame overlays for fly balls and throw meters for catching runners out at bases.

For fly balls, once the ball is in flight, a visual indicator of a large baseball appears on the field, getting smaller and smaller as it approaches the ground, giving you enough time to position your outfielder in its center, in order to catch the ball. If the ball is predicted to land near the outfield wall, a trio of yellow chevrons pointing upward will appear at the location. As the ball heads to the ground, each chevron will turn green in succession. Catch the ball, using Jump by pressing R2 (PS) or RT (XB), when all three are green.

The Throw Meter is an onscreen indicator depicted as a quadrant gauge over a fielder, and consists of a needle that moves over three colors: green, sandwiched by yellow on either side, and red on either side of yellow until the ends. Throwing on green is ideal, with red being the obvious worst choice. As for throwing on yellow, the fumbling mechanics have changed this year, and instead of being an almost certain failure all the time, statistically good basemen can and will recover from bad throws by picking up the ball out of the dirt. Also new this year: the color spectrum on the gauge isn’t centered perfectly, and can move from one extreme end to the other, making the minigame somewhat dynamic and challenging in nature.

In the outfield, the Throw Meter dynamics change again. Yellow is eliminated, and green narrows even more. This represents the long distance throwing involved. Centered within the green is an even narrower blue sliver, which represents the very best accuracy that can be achieved while throwing the ball all the way back to base.

Pitching Style Settings

Of the five available pitching styles available to players, one stands out as the majority favorite for complete control of pitches: Pinpoint. Expectedly, it is also the hardest to master, with perfect dual thumbstick control being necessary in order to achieve the perfect pitch. Begin by moving the left analog stick to aim, and then use the right analog stick to play a minigame inside of a small circular overlay.

The mechanic requires you to follow a specific path at a specific speed and then hit two blue circles consecutively with the thumbstick. The path shapes correspond to pitch types–e.g. a straight line for a fastball–while the circles can be anywhere within the overlay, and also pulse in size. Hitting the circles at their smallest is the goal, for achieving greater accuracy.

While thumbstick speed and timing is critical for tracing the path and tagging the first circle, it is NOT required for hitting the second circle. Rather than randomly flicking at it in a panic, take a breath, and time it to release your pitch correctly.

Here’s a quick rundown on the other pitch styles:

• Classic is the oldest of old-school pitching implementations, from every baseball game ever, going back decades. First select the pitch type using X, Circle, Square, Triangle, R1 (PS) or A, B, X, Y, RB (XB), then aim using the left stick. Initiate the throw using X (PS) or A (XB), and let the player statistics determine the result.
• Meter is a simple minigame-based pitch style similar to those in other game genres that involve fishing or golfing. After selecting a pitch type, a meter in the shape of a quadrant circle will appear on screen. Set aim, and then begin a sequence of three button presses to throw the pitch: the first to initiate the needle on the meter, the second to set power, and the third to determine accuracy. What makes it hard is how slender the margins and timings are for executing it correctly, exacerbated by the effects of ever-decreasing pitcher stamina, as the inning wears on
• Pure Analog is accomplished in a similar manner to the dual thumbstick system of Pinpoint but without the complex tracing minigame. Select pitch type, aim the reticle with the left stick, draw back the right stick on the onscreen power meter in order to hit the needle, and then flick it back up towards the reticle when it does. This requires accurately matching the final resting positions of both left and right thumbsticks
• Pulse is next in simplicity to Classic, but is the most annoying of pitch styles. In a manner reminiscent of bullet spread reticle mechanics which expand or shrink to determine accuracy, this aiming overlay simply pulses both rapidly and incessantly with no nuance in rhythm. It requires nothing more than timing a button press just right, i.e when the circle has contracted to its smallest. As with Classic, there is no velocity control to be exerted.

Enjoy this year’s outing of MLB: The Show!

"Even though MLB The Show 23 doesn’t make many notable changes aside from some gameplay tweaks, it continues to be a great baseball game with a wide array of modes and the tightest, most satisfying baseball gameplay you’ll play."

The ability of a sports game to make you feel like you’re an integral part of the experience in multiple unique ways is among its most important jobs, and there’s no game that realizes that opportunity quite like The Show. Over time, Sony San Diego has introduced a slew of new game modes that vary the experience and allow you to experience baseball in a bunch of different ways. What’s startling about The Show is how equally fun each game mode is. Franchise mode and Road to the Show, of course, are classics, but a mode like March to October continues to be one of the more enjoyable modes in any sports game, as it fuses the best parts of team management and individual player performance. Even Diamond Dynasty, The Show’s answer to FIFA’s Ultimate Team, is still my favorite card collecting, team building mode in any sports game. Its variety of different offline and online gameplay experiences give you a real ability to improve your team without having to get smacked by online players every time. I also have to shout out Conquest mode, which, while not new, is my main reason for coming back to Diamond Dynasty.

The thing is that none of these modes have really changed year over year. If you played any of these modes in MLB The Show 22, you’ll feel like you jumped right back into the fray with a handful of tweaks here and there. Road to the Show, even with its increased ability to model yourself after Shohei Ohtani and live out the dream of being the league’s next two-way player, continues to feel relatively stagnant from last year and years prior, and I’m starting to lose the desire to make my way from double-A all the way up to the big leagues. Franchise and March to October, too, haven’t seen many tweaks or upgrades and are effectively the same experience as they’ve been before.

The key addition to MLB The Show 23 is a new game mode called “Storylines,” an in-depth look at the history of the Negro Leagues and an opportunity to play through the biggest moments of the careers of ten key players from the Negro Leagues, with more promised over future games. This is a fantastic installment both for the love of the game and the education of its fans, many of whom most likely aren’t aware of the key players the way they would be of comparable MLB players. Of course, you can play through the rise and barrier breaking of the great Jackie Robinson or the all-time great pitching of Satchel Paige, but you can also learn about other players that I, admittedly, wasn’t as familiar with, like Rube Foster or Hilton Smith.

"The Storylines mode is a fantastic addition both for the love of the game and the education of its fans, many of whom most likely aren’t aware of the key players the way they would be of comparable MLB players."

Sony San Diego partnered with the real Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and provides a documentary-style view into these players’ careers, narrated by the Museum’s president Bob Kendrick. It’s a fascinating view that gives great insight to the impact these players had and how great they really were. Each player also has a ten-part story thread that allows you to play through some of their biggest moments. For Jackie Robinson, for example, you get to play the game in which he started for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The actual gameplay of the Storylines mode is a bit more mundane, though still interesting and relatively varied. You don’t get to play the full games; instead, you have to complete increasingly difficult tasks within single games. For Jackie Robinson, it starts with getting one hit and moves to getting multiple hits in a game, getting on base, or stealing a base. On the pitching side, it’s frequently about pitching scoreless innings or getting strikeouts, sometimes with specific pitch arsenals like Rube Foster’s screwball. If there is one negative about the Storylines mode, it’s that each level can, on a gameplay level, become a bit repetitive if you play them too quickly. With that said, it’s fascinating even just to see the aesthetics of the game at the time, from the eye-popping uniforms to Satchel Paige’s long windup. It’s worth it, though, as by the end you’ll have learned a lot about the history of baseball, and you’ll have gotten a few handy Diamond Dynasty cards in the process.

On an overall gameplay level, there have been a few noticeable tweaks that make batting and pitching a slight step up from last year. While batting, it feels like the Perfect-Perfect outcomes, which frequently result in home runs or hard-hit line drives, happen slightly more often, and on the DualSense controller, these hits are among the best experiences in the game. Pitching, too, feels slightly more precise. I tend to use Pinpoint Pitching, which feels both smoother and more understandable this time around. I felt as though I knew any time my timing was off, and I began to hit 100% accuracy more frequently than ever before. It’s worth noting that while the rosters have been updated alongside most of the new rules the MLB is implementing this year, including the elimination of the shift, there’s a glaring omission of the pitch clock. It isn’t quite as impactful to the video game as it will be to the on-field game, but my ability to pick off as many times as I want or take as long as possible on the mound felt a bit off compared to what’s happening in the league right now.

"MLB The Show has become one of the premier sports games on the market because of its fantastic gameplay and wide array of enjoyable modes, and The Show 23 doesn’t do anything to slow it down."

In a lot of ways, MLB The Show 23 feels like a slightly upgraded version of MLB The Show 22. Each of the existing game modes feel almost identical to past years, which is to say still incredibly fun, if not as revolutionary. The addition of the Storylines mode and the in-depth look at the real history of the Negro Leagues and its greatest players is a fantastic addition that adds a slightly varied new gameplay style alongside a great platform for learning about the history of the game. Regardless, MLB The Show has become one of the premier sports games on the market because of its fantastic gameplay and wide array of enjoyable modes, and The Show 23 doesn’t do anything to slow it down.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.