I would think so. Even a companion app has the potential to make Sony lots of money.
-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
MLB: The The Show about to go multi platform in 2021, no longer a PlayStation Exclusive
- Thread starter jbug617
- Start date
I would think so. Even a companion app has the potential to make Sony lots of money.
How I guess this happened
MLB wanted to get a multiplatform game again.
MLB probably went to EA
EA gonna EA. Probably wanted as a condition that took the licence away from Sony similar to when they got Xbox Sports shut down back in the day.
MLB and Sony probably had a big talk and this was the outcome
In the end this is the best outcome with the least disruption. The Show is a quality product that will so well multiplatform. Sony will make more money on MLB now.
MLB wanted to get a multiplatform game again.
MLB probably went to EA
EA gonna EA. Probably wanted as a condition that took the licence away from Sony similar to when they got Xbox Sports shut down back in the day.
MLB and Sony probably had a big talk and this was the outcome
In the end this is the best outcome with the least disruption. The Show is a quality product that will so well multiplatform. Sony will make more money on MLB now.
MLB is not the same as GoW or Uncharted. Currently there is only one studio making an MLB game, so MLB working a deal to have it's game appear on multiple platforms makes sense. Sony gets more money and MLB doesn't have to sell exclusive rights to the license.
After years of 'Nintendo go third party'(I know that died down lately), you gonna get Sony and Microsoft on a Nintendo plattform. And Sega too, but we all got used to that. Time has some irony.
They tried. No one wanted it. Baseball is US centric and not as big as madden so there was not much money for third party devs plus any game would be compared to the show which is highly rated every year
MLB seems to maintain close ties with the Show. They use the Show's graphics for features on their website. Honestly, I am sure it would take years for anyone to catch up and compete with the quality of The Show. Full respect to the team for not phoning it in when they competition bailed out.
I doubt someone like EA even wants to bother at this point as they would probably just have another NBA Live situation on their hands.
Sony San Diego needs to make a NHL game. BRING BACK 989 SPORTS
OK I thought the Minecraft news was just Sony submitting to Microsoft in order to get it on PS5, nothing more. This is very interesting now. If Sony goes full multiplatform, it might break open the whole status quo. It could even lead to Nintendo games on PS5. Imagine if BotW2 was multiplatform. It's actually possible. I think everyone still competes on hardware and services. You buy a Nintendo because you like portable hybrid. You buy Playstation because you want power at an affordable price.
On the other hand this might be limited to specific titles Sony chooses.
On the other hand this might be limited to specific titles Sony chooses.
It just makes sense when you look at the landscape and how much money professional sports games rake in each year. It's GAAS Gold. With what's no doubt going to be a costly next-gen arms race, I'd imagine that sort of revenue stream is tough to ignore.
No, it just isn't.
Nintendo own the developers and licenses to their biggest franchises and they make them too much money.
Sony's future titles might go multiplatform, especially in streaming services take off, but Nintendo will never do the same.
Yep, also the commentary crew used by the Show is the same as MLB Network, actually The Show uses MLB Network's graphics for its tv presentation.
What the world needs is for this to happen but with Jim Ryan and Phil Spencer
The difference is Sony doesn't own the MLB license, so MLB can ask them to publish the game on other platforms as part of a licensing deal.
But they own Detroit/Beyond/Death Stranding/Journey... that are on PC now
Jim Ryan said that there were going to be titles that make sense to be released in multiple platforms because they need more exposure.
I think MLB is a perfect example of these kind of titles. Of course don't ever expect to have a God of War on Xbox.
Also, I think both Sony and Nintendo will eventually do the same with some of their titles, too. This is a new era.
I think MLB is a perfect example of these kind of titles. Of course don't ever expect to have a God of War on Xbox.
Also, I think both Sony and Nintendo will eventually do the same with some of their titles, too. This is a new era.
Quantic Dream and thatgamecompany wanted to go multiplatform and Sony just did that as a goodwill gesture for them to help establish their portfolio for multiplatform markets (it's easier and quicker to port a completed game than make one from scratch).
Death Stranding was always going to be on PC and was part of the agreement for Kojima to sign on for Sony to obtain that IP.
Yesterday I would have said the same about Sony and MLB the Show. Take any big selling Nintendo game and I bet you add 50-100% more sales if you go multiplatform. BotW2 could sell 15 million, and certainly Smash or Kart or Pokemon would. I think we're still in fringe territory with MLB though. We won't know that Sony is fully embracing multiplatform until we see Naughty Dog, Insomniac, or Polyphony Digital games go mutiplatform. I think it barely hurts Nintendo hardware sales too, since Switch is totally unique.
Last edited:
User Warned: Platform Warring
Microsoft and many third party dev's can create games as good as Spider-Man, God of War etc, but no one is coming close to making things like Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey or Pokemon.
I'm excited by the announcement but I wonder how dedicated Sony's development studio will be at issuing patches and having visual fidelity and consistency across non-Sony platforms.
I think this decision was probably prodded by Major League Baseball, who obviously sees a huge gap that there's no serious MLB videogame on a platform that has ~30m install base in MLB's primary audience (North America). Madden, NBA 2K, and FIFA are huge videogame brands, while MLB The Show lacks that brand recognition despite still having high quality games while Madden and 2K (Especially Madden) are typically thought of as having lower quality.
As a huge fan of sports sims over the last 25 years, one reason I bought a Playstation 4 (and Playstation 3) was because of The Show. I'm an outlier, most people don't care about that game enough to influence a buying decision, but the Show has always been a great sports sim. Although, I think the series hasn't progressed much in the last 5+ years (or longer), but it's still a terrific sports sim.
I wouldn't hold your breath that Sony is going to start publishing other 1st and 2nd party games on non-Sony platforms. I think this should be taken as a one-off because of the Major League Baseball license. I wouldn't be surprised if EA made pitches to MLB showing that an EA-developed baseball title could be released on ~75m consoles in North America, where the Sony-developed baseball game can only be released on ~30m consoles in North America. EA is also much more aggressive with publishing licensed mobile games, which are shit games, but are still revenue generators. I don't have any faith in EA to make a great sports game anymore, they have no track record that they care to, but I can't help but look back at MVP Baseball 2005 (and '06) and think what could have been if that team was still making baseball games.
I think this decision was probably prodded by Major League Baseball, who obviously sees a huge gap that there's no serious MLB videogame on a platform that has ~30m install base in MLB's primary audience (North America). Madden, NBA 2K, and FIFA are huge videogame brands, while MLB The Show lacks that brand recognition despite still having high quality games while Madden and 2K (Especially Madden) are typically thought of as having lower quality.
As a huge fan of sports sims over the last 25 years, one reason I bought a Playstation 4 (and Playstation 3) was because of The Show. I'm an outlier, most people don't care about that game enough to influence a buying decision, but the Show has always been a great sports sim. Although, I think the series hasn't progressed much in the last 5+ years (or longer), but it's still a terrific sports sim.
I wouldn't hold your breath that Sony is going to start publishing other 1st and 2nd party games on non-Sony platforms. I think this should be taken as a one-off because of the Major League Baseball license. I wouldn't be surprised if EA made pitches to MLB showing that an EA-developed baseball title could be released on ~75m consoles in North America, where the Sony-developed baseball game can only be released on ~30m consoles in North America. EA is also much more aggressive with publishing licensed mobile games, which are shit games, but are still revenue generators. I don't have any faith in EA to make a great sports game anymore, they have no track record that they care to, but I can't help but look back at MVP Baseball 2005 (and '06) and think what could have been if that team was still making baseball games.
Last edited:
I bought a PS4 in 2014 in HUGE part thanks to The Show. Glad to see others will be able to get in on the best damn sports game out there.
For me the Zelda team is Nintendos only elite team. Everything else they have is nothing special. And the Zelda team can put out duds too.
In terms of constitency it is the 3D Mario team. They have released several 95+ games since M64. I don't think they have been outmatched even once tbh.
Sales for The Show are already really good for being a PS exclusive. With PC/XB in the mix, it'll be massive.
MLB The Show was only exclusive because Sony developed it. It was never due to licensing exclusive. MS or Nintendo could have always developed their own game.
Sony and Microsoft just don't have equivalents to Zelda, Mario, Pojdmon, Mario Kart, Smash Bros etc
I can't see a future where Nintendo let their big games go third party.
All the Nintendo games you mentioned already sell 15+ million.
That's an interesting opinion. However, seeing how God of War is arguably the best game of this generation, it would seem all those games you mentioned are still playing catch up to Kratos.
Edit: also, unrelated to the post I replied to, it seems HZD isn't coming to PC then? At least outside of PS Now.
Back in 2006 when all of this licensing shit went down, Take2/2K bought the exclusive 3rd party / multi-platform rights, but (likely due to funding) they weren't able or weren't willing to purchase true exclusivity. Sony was able to continue making The Show (which had just only rebranded a year before, after falling pretty far behind MVP & MLB 2K). 2K was basically only interested in icing out EA from making MLB-licensed baseball games, which they did... MVP Baseball would effectively be killed by the licensing deal, with 2005-season being the last MLB-licensed release, but they transitioned to college baseball for one season before shuttering it.
Take2 published MLB 2K up unto the 2013 season, but the game was always laughably horrible, bug riddled. The deal was purely punitive, and Take2 never intended to make a good game with the license, just take a pound of flesh from EA after the NFL licensing deal.
Microsoft fell right into Sony's keikaku to get scarlett dev kits in-house, post-haste
I think this actually speaks more to MLB games being relatively niche and needing maximum exposure to reach its US-focused intended audience. Hell, I'm from US and don't know any MLB fans personally, much less PS4 players of the game. I think Sony looked at the numbers and came to the conclusion this game isn't driving console ownership, and they're just leaving money on the table by being PS4 only. Perhaps got a better profit sharing split with MLB out of it by expanding the platforms, also.
I think this actually speaks more to MLB games being relatively niche and needing maximum exposure to reach its US-focused intended audience. Hell, I'm from US and don't know any MLB fans personally, much less PS4 players of the game. I think Sony looked at the numbers and came to the conclusion this game isn't driving console ownership, and they're just leaving money on the table by being PS4 only. Perhaps got a better profit sharing split with MLB out of it by expanding the platforms, also.
Pretty much my take of the situation. It's also possible that MLB might have seen more of a return with multiplatform and Sony made the deal to keep the license.