MLB 2K Franchise Cancelled

It's been a strange few months for sports games, as many developers have pulled the plug on their high profile franchises. Last year, EA Sports decided not to renew their NCAA license for football, and shortly thereafter pulled the plug on any potential college football game, and today yet another mainstay series has gone kaput.

2K Sports' parent company Take-Two Interactive today announced they would not deliver an MLB 2K title for 2014. Moreover, they called the franchise's entire future into question by pulling any mention of the MLB 2K brand from their official sites and forums.

Shortly thereafter, Take-Two issued a public statement saying they had decided not to renew the MLB license for 2014, but did not mention whether or not they plan to re-up anytime in the future. Check out the full statement below:

"We have decided not to renew our MLB 2K series for 2014. We are very proud of the achievements made by the MLB 2K team and look forward to their contributions to our future titles, including NBA 2K – our industry's #1 rated and #1 selling basketball franchise."

This doesn't come as too much of a surprise, though, as MLB 2K13 only barely made it onto store shelves. But still, the fact that Take-Two is willing to call it quits on their baseball franchise suggests the sports game landscape is changing.

MLB 2K12 Perfect Game Cheating Break

Madden, FIFA, and NBA 2K are still doing well, sales-wise, but it's unclear how long developers will be able to sustain that success while also delivering next-gen experiences. Perhaps Take-Two saw that the effort it would take to bring MLB 2K to the next-gen was not offset by theoretical sales. Whatever the case, MLB 2K is no more.

The bigger issues, however, is that without MLB 2K on the market there is no option for Xbox and Nintendo gamers to get their fix. MLB: The Show — a PlayStation exclusive franchise — is now the only name in baseball games, but that might soon change if demand is high enough. There was talk of The Show going multiplatform back when MLB 2K13 looked like it wasn't happening, but nothing became of those rumors. MLB: The Show is a Sony franchise, and it will likely stay that way.

For now, baseball fans without PlayStation systems are left waiting to see if another developer swoops in and takes 2K Sports' place.

Are you sad to see the MLB 2K franchise go? Do you think MLB: The Show should become multiplatform?

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Source: Polygon