To urge MLB The Show 21 to run on the Xbox Series X|S, Microsoft has revealed that they had to trust Sony with the console’s hardware pre-release.
To ensure that the sport ran on the – at the time unreleased – Xbox Series X|S hardware, Microsoft sent it over to Sony, who, until MLB The Show 21 released, had exclusive rights to the MLB series PlayStation.
Sarah Bond, the top of game creator experience and ecosystem at Microsoft, told Axios: “It was a true, real sign of industry trust”.
Bond added that whilst Microsoft was working with MLB on a special baseball, R.B.I Baseball, the conversation always shifted to MLB The Show: “We always said, ‘We love this game. it might be an enormous opportunity to bring it to Xbox.'”
The deal came as a shock when announced back in April of this year because the baseball title would be available later that same month for Xbox Game to expire day one among its release. Meanwhile, MLB The Show 21 launched an equivalent day on PS4 and PS5 as a full-price title.
MLB The Show is an internally developed Playstation title, with Sony’s San Diego studio making the baseball games since 2006. However, when chatting with Inverse, a Sony Interactive Entertainment representative said the choice to place the sport on Xbox was made entirely by the license holder MLB, not Sony.
“As a part of the goal for this year’s game, MLB decided to bring the franchise to more players and baseball fans. This decision provides a singular opportunity to further establish MLB The Show because the premier brand for baseball video games”.
Back in May, rock group Royal Blood worked with PlayStation to release their track ‘Oblivion’ into the sport. Mike Kerr, the band’s bassist and vocalist, said: “We hope fans enjoy it.”
