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As the month of April draws closer, MLB The Show 22 is shaping up to be one of the best baseball games ahead of its debut on the Nintendo Switch and other consoles. Each week, San Diego Studio reveals several aspects of its new installment to the franchise, including Legends roster members and certain gaming mechanics.
Earlier this week, a new feature premiere hit YouTube and Twitch and included developers discussing a variety of topics on MLB The Show 22. One point of the conversation involving the March To October mode has the baseball community talking, and speculation is arising on what it could mean for the Franchise mode.
The feature opened up with a deep dive into the invigorated Trade Metric mechanic, tailored to gamers who love to take control of an MLB team as a general manager. The new enhancements take into account a player's age, potential, performance, and team control/contract values when evaluating each individual. The highly-discussed 30-year sim project studied how a player's rank relates to potential and age, along with some advanced statistics leading up to contract negotiations. The new metrics will use a three-year weighted WAR (wins above replacement), impacting every player's AAV (average annual value), creating an enhanced experience for MLB The Show 22 across all console platforms.
As announced earlier in the week and holding a quick spot in the premiere, former Boston Red Sox Kevin Youkilis joins the Legends roster as its newest member. Budget improvements will include an update to team market sizes in order to reflect the current MLB, while details like max contract term and max AAV have both received increases. In-game mechanics are a big talking point, and its overhaul includes two-way players acting as designated hitters in games they don't pitch while recovering pitching stamina. If a player has a secondary position, a team will assign them to the role best suited for them as a designated hitter.
Transaction logs will now store four times more information compared to previous installments, while a minor tweak to separate injury sliders for simulation and in-game makes its debut. Perhaps the most anticipated section of the premiere focused on the details regarding MLB The Show 22's March To October mode, which showcases several features already included in Franchise. As the mode introduces the multi-season aspect instead of a one-year, must-win feature, it's become a point of speculation whether this could mean the end for Franchise. With the cancellation of RBI Baseball 22 and the delay in the 2022 MLB season, San Diego is doing everything it can to ensure baseball fans get their bat-swinging fix in April
MLB The Show 22 releases on April 5 for PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.