For years now, Sony has more or less had complete exclusivity when it comes high quality baseball games. While Xbox gamers have been able to play the arcade-style RBI Baseball games, they have missed out on the much bigger-budget simulation MLB series, MLB The Show. However, there is a chance that the upcoming MLB The Show 21 will be making its way to Xbox as well, which should prove to be a good thing for both Xbox and PlayStation fans.
Since MLB The Show has been exclusive to PlayStation for years, some PlayStation fans have expressed their disappointment that the series is apparently making its way to Xbox and other platforms. After all, some people still subscribe to the "console wars" mentality, and they don't want to see the competing consoles get their exclusive games. However, it's quite likely that MLB The Show coming to Xbox will overall be a good thing for all baseball video game fans.
Here is why MLB The Show 21 coming to Xbox would ultimately be a good thing for fans of the franchise on PlayStation.
Crossplay
One big benefit to MLB The Show 21 coming to Xbox is potential crossplay support, and the impact it could have on the game's online community. Presumably, if MLB The Show 21 is coming to Xbox, it will be launching for both Xbox One and Xbox Series X. This would significantly increase the game's potential playerbase by millions, which would in turn result in a far more active online community for MLB The Show 21.
A more active online community means MLB The Show 21 would likely receive updates and fixes at a faster rate, as there would be many more people to upset if things go haywire. It also means that the game's online should remain active for an even longer period of time than previous MLB The Show games. And unlike first-person shooter games, where those playing on PC sometimes have an advantage (though sometimes aim assist actually gives console players the advantage instead), it's hard to see how MLB The Show 21's possible crossplay could give players on one console any significant advantage over those playing on a different console.
More Sales
By opening up MLB The Show 21 to an Xbox audience (and potentially a Nintendo Switch audience as well), the game stands to sell significantly more copies and therefore make significantly more money. If MLB The Show 21 is a much bigger financial success than previous games in the series, which it should be and by a significant margin, then that would theoretically mean bigger budgets for future games in the series.
A bigger development budget for future MLB The Show games could see each entry in the franchise get more meaningful improvements from one year to the next. Not to mention, it should also mean better graphics, better performance, and a better all-around product.
Possible Drawbacks
There are some possible drawbacks to bringing MLB The Show to other platforms, however. Some fans worried that MLB The Show coming to more platforms could possibly dilute the product as the developers have to focus on optimizing the game for more than one system at a time. And that is a legitimate concern. However, that is more of a concern if the developers are bringing MLB The Show 21 to the Nintendo Switch as well as Xbox. The Xbox consoles can more than hold their own against PlayStation power-wise, and so there's no reason to think that Xbox ports would hold the games back.
Some may be concerned that this means MLB The Show 21 on PlayStation 5 won't take full advantage of the system's unique capabilities. However, other multiplatform games have featured DualSense controller support, taking full advantage of the adaptive triggers and haptic feedback, so there's no reason to think MLB The Show 21 will be skipping out. After all, the game was most likely coming to both PS4 and PS5 anyway, and PS4 does not have DualSense compatibility either.
And it should also be mentioned that there is a distinct possibility that MLB The Show 21 will not be coming to Xbox. When the announcement was made that future MLB The Show games would potentially be coming to other platforms, it didn't provide a specific date as to when that would happen. Fans knew that MLB The Show 20 would not be coming to other consoles as it was already too far along in development, but the jury is still out for MLB The Show 21.
Unfortunately, there is some evidence to suggest that MLB The Show 21 will be skipping Xbox as well. A ratings board recently leaked MLB The Show 21 for PS4 and PS5, with no mention of an Xbox version at all. While this may not mean anything, it could mean that MLB The Show 21 will once again be PlayStation exclusive, and Xbox fans may have to wait for 2022 to get their hands on an MLB The Show video game.
There are still some unanswered questions when it comes to MLB The Show 21, but luckily, fans shouldn't have to wait too much longer to get their answers. It's been confirmed that MLB The Show 21 will be revealed in February, so fans should know a lot more about the plans for the new game in just a matter of weeks.
MLB The Show 21 is in development for unspecified platforms.