MLB the Show: New Year, Same Garbage

Programming Note: Four Verts is expanding to cover all sports video games, not just College Football ‘25. Interested in writing? Email david.stegon@gmail.com.

San Diego Studios updated users on some important gameplay improvements for MLB the Show ’25, most notably a handful of new modes, including Weekend Classic and Diamond Quest.

That’s all fine and great, but it all still comes across as lipstick on a pig.

Remember when they added women last year? It was a nice PR move, but when you started playing the game, did it come up again? I’m not being misogynistic in any way—it is great that gamers can create a female for Road to the Show, but besides adding a ponytail, what did they really do?

That tends to be the case with most MLB the Show releases and trailers. Short of wholesale changes (which are not coming), the game’s creators just try to find different ways to present the same game and the same cards.

Remember last year’s Out of Position Program? That was the dumbest shit I’ve ever seen. Great, Kenley Jansen was a catcher in high school. I DO NOT CARE. Oh, and surprise, lots of players with strong arms were pitchers at some point. To me it was a sign the game’s content team was out of ideas.

Praising little changes like this is also a problem with the pre-release cycle. San Diego Studios drips things out and the content creator community sucks them off (at least the people I follow). I’m not sure if it's because San Diego Studios gives them a free game or what but the online praise often outweighs the excitement of the rank and file.

As a long time,MLB the Show player, I’ve accepted one hard truth: It’s the same game every fucking year.

Now, do I still play this game an hour or two a day before I go to bed? Absolutely.

I’ve just accepted that I’m not buying a new game but continuing to receive new content releases. Until MLB the Show reveals some actual gameplay differences, I will hold off praising San Diego Studios for every little change they make.

I’ll highlight some meaningful changes I’d like to see in a coming issue. The short version is I want change to the game’s meta (we’ve all used the same strategies for several years now) and more legends (even shitty ones!).

Let’s end on an important question: Are you taking time off from work next Friday to play? And I mean like you are putting in vacation hours to not do your day job?

David Stegon is the publisher of Four Verts.