What the Heck Happened to Baseball Video Games?

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Baseball. Gaming. Xbox.

One of these is not like the other. Even though the sports video game industry is worth billions worldwide, the Xbox One is completely out of luck regarding a baseball simulation title. “MLB The Show,” a Sony Playstation exclusive, now reigns without contention as the only legitimate baseball game on the market (albeit a good one).

So how did it happen? Baseball gaming used to be good. In fact, it was actually a great time, when you jump back a few consoles. The big players like EA and Sega were producing titles in full force. It was a great era to play as your favorite club for years. Here’s what happened.

‘EA MVP Baseball’

I have some pretty incredible memories playing “MVP 2005” for my Playstation 2. EA did a masterful job of combining simulation and arcade with a smooth transition between the two. Franchise mode, an area of the game that lets you control every aspect of your team—roster, salaries, stadium, front office, etc.—would play like a precise sim during game time (as precise as the Playstation 2 could handle) and feature arcade mini-games to level up your players. Hitters could bat into a field of obstacles like a Top Golf to earn points (used to buff stats) and pitcher hit targets in a makeshift game of Tetris.

“MVP”… those were the days. But 2005 would be the last year EA would ever make a major MLB title. Its contract with major league baseball ended that year, and the new rights fell to Sony in a big deal that would last 2006-2012. There were a few rumors floating around in 2011 that EA would restart operations on “MVP,” but it never happened.

‘Sega 2K Baseball’

If “MVP” was the wacky, fun-loving kid brother, “2K” was the sophisticated older sibling. Sega didn’t use the arcade goodies from “MVP” but instead focused on the most realistic simulator possible. For the most part it pulled the task off beautifully—except when it didn’t. “2K” was notorious for having all sorts of bugs and glitches year after year. Once “MLB The Show” came around, almost no one was siding with Sega on the efforts to perfect the baseball sim. They closed up shop in 2013 after their contract ended with MLB.

‘MLB The Show’

After EA and Sega has their turn, Sony made a run at the genre, and they (forgive my terrible pun) knocked it out of the park. “The Show” is the most flawless, comprehensive baseball sim ever made. There’s just one small problem—it’s produced by Sony, making it exclusive to the Playstation. And since they own the exclusive rights to the contract with Major League Baseball, it will stay that way for several more years.

“MLB the Show” is absolutely stunning for the PS4, so it’s a gem if you’re a Playstation user. If you own an Xbox, there’s really nothing for you right now. The only options are to convert or wait it out. “MLB The Show” may be a solo contender for now, but it can’t reign supreme forever. Competitors like EA are just too big to let a market like this fall to Sony by default.