One of the biggest sports titles to release this year, MLB The Show 21, just launched and is receiving a lot of positive feedback from fans. The excitement surrounding the game even lead some to pay extra for early access. Now that the title is here, the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, took a moment to congratulate Sony on the release of the game.
San Diego Studio, a first-party studio for Sony Interactive Entertainment, has long been in charge of development of the series, which has remained a PlayStation exclusive since its inception. However, for the first time, MLB The Show 21 also released for the Xbox One and Xbox Series X, so Spencer's congratulatory message makes more sense with this in mind. Spencer issued his goodwill through Twitter, adding that it's "Really great to have the game out for everyone" and called it a "true baseball sim."
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He isn't wrong. There is a lot to do within the game and it comes with highly customizable settings that allow people to play how they like. There are even multiple pitching settings that range from classic to pure analog pitching, where players can test their accuracy with the analog sticks. Additionally, there are a lot of new features and quality of life improvements that make it the best in the series so far.
The title branching out to other platforms wasn't even the most surprising news surrounding it after its announcement. Once a Sony exclusive, MLB The Show 21 is now on Xbox Game Pass, providing the option for subscribers to play the game at no additional cost. Because of this, some commenters on Spencer's Twitter post are calling out the message as outright trolling since Xbox is offering an objectively better deal than PlayStation owners are getting.
It might seem like Xbox is taking advantage of Sony's generosity, but that's not the case. In fact, putting the game on Xbox wasn't even Sony's decision. After renewing its license agreement with MLB, the company agreed to support more platforms. With the MLB at the helm in terms of availability, it chose to make the title more accessible to more players and the rest is history. Xbox simply saw an opportunity and went for it.
That being said, having a quality sports title available on more consoles is a move that benefits all gamers. Sports games have a habit of churning out the same thing over and over again will little change, so MLB The Show 21 is a refreshing change of pace. Now, PC gamers are hoping to broaden availability even further so they can get a shot at the title.
MLB The Show 21 is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.