The release of MLB The Show 21 on Xbox Game Pass is now less than a week away, and while it's obviously developed by PlayStation Studios, it's nevertheless getting a lot of marketing for Xbox consoles.
Just recently, heavy advertising for the Xbox version of MLB The Show 21 has been spotted in the real-life MLB, with one particular photo doing the rounds from a Toronto Blue Jays game against the New York Yankees.
It probably shouldn't surprise us given everything we've learned about MLB The Show 21 over the past few months, but it is still a shock to see the game getting such heavy marketing for Xbox given who it's developed by.
According to the Microsoft Store though, the game is being published on Xbox by the MLB directly, so it does make sense. Sony also recently suggested that the MLB made the decision to bring the game to Xbox Game Pass at launch.
Any thoughts on this? Let us know down in the comments section below.
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Comments 11
The more I think about this the more it makes sense. Baseball as a sport is mainly popular (relatively) in the USA and similarly the Xbox is mainly (and relatively) popular in USA only so its a partnership that just has to exist for the MLB to maximise exposure.
It will be fascinating to see if there are any visual or performance differences between PS5 and Xbox here. I can't imagine a situation where the Xbox version is allowed to run better, and I almost wonder whether they will make sure that the PS5 version is definitive in some way.
@Spaceman-Spiff I have a feeling it's going to look/run better on PS5 simply gauging the fact that it's developed by a Sony first-party studio who are probably way more familiar with how to fully optimize their games specifically for that hardware
TV ads aren't a real gauger for how strong a game is being advertised in Canada
For that you go to Yonge and Dundas Square and count how many times you see PlayStation or Xbox stuff on the billboards and skyscraper ad displays
@TheFrenchiestFry Not sure if that’s a valid and logical argument considering the ongoing pandemic.
@Senua I was able to go just fine back in September
It's only now that everything's back under strict lockdown protocol again
This is hilarious! How is Xbox able to market this game with their name beside it? Either Sony got bent over and told to take whatever the MLB gave them or they messed up on the contract fine print.
@SegataSanshiro Okay so this was brought up in the Xbox Two podcast but Sony had Dev kits for the new Xbox systems last year.
You know before the specs for any systems were released.
Would have loved to have been a Ladybug on the wall...
@SegataSanshiro I didn't say they weren't going to optimize it for Xbox because they couldn't. I just think naturally that hardware they have more experience with will probably get the advantage in terms of maximizing every benefit that hardware has
It'll probably look great on Xbox, but San Diego Studio obviously have way more experience specifically developing for their first party hardware so it's at a natural advantage
I just want to go to a Raptors game so bad...
Xbox has lacked any MLB sim for 8 years and the best MLB sim since MVP 05.
I think it makes sense to advertise heavily.
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