Is The Show Still An Every Year Purchase?

[Hammerhunker]

I am at an age where I take inventory of what brings me joy and what is deserving of my time; The Show fits the bill on both. Sure, the change from year to year is minuscule, but who's guaranteed next year. The excitement of the new version never gets old for me.

[fnz21]

Yeah, I know a lot of people might not want to admit it but sometimes the best thing to look forward to when buying a given sports title every yea is the updated roster.
This is definitely the biggest reason I'm a yearly buyer. Even tho I do expect something else also, to sweeten the deal. Sometimes its new features, sometimes its new stadiums.

I've absolutely been that person, especially when we didn't have real minors players in the game by default and they'd finally have a real face. I feel like I've gotten spoiled in that the minors guys ARE in there now, but the default faces are bad so it gets really frustrating to have the real faces added in as the year goes on, but I've already replaced the default faces with some slightly better ones from the vault, which means they don't get updated in my save. There's a deeper rant for another thread about importing/exporting into a franchise files and being able to do so for REAL players, the way NBA 2K lets you do it.

[Ghost Of The Year]

I've absolutely been that person, especially when we didn't have real minors players in the game by default and they'd finally have a real face. I feel like I've gotten spoiled in that the minors guys ARE in there now, but the default faces are bad so it gets really frustrating to have the real faces added in as the year goes on, but I've already replaced the default faces with some slightly better ones from the vault, which means they don't get updated in my save. There's a deeper rant for another thread about importing/exporting into a franchise files and being able to do so for REAL players, the way NBA 2K lets you do it.

Being able to import/export real players coupled with being able to import all players into franchise mode would be a true game changer. When they removed carry-over saves, Sony should have already had importing players into franchise as a bit of a trade-off for losing carry-overs. It wouldn't have been a hundred percent equal trade-off for losing carry-overs, but it would have at least been something.

[ARMORALLL]

It stopped being a must own when they got rid of the y2y saves.

[Madden08PCgmr]

I have bought every version since 2018. The game has improved every year. In my opinion, it just can't be debated. It is hands down the best gaming representation of the 3 American pro leagues. (respect to hockey and 'football', I can't speak to those gaming experiences)

Not being able to carry over rosters/saves really chaps my @$$. That was a revolutionary feature. I can't imagine what that would have been like in the football game. So thats my biggest beef with SDS. (I do respect recent obstacles porting to X and Switch)

Anyway, at minimum, I buy once the price point drops below $30. Its $$ well spent. Games are some of the cheapest entertainment that can be found. Its not hard to drop $30 on a burger and a couple beers these days.

The yearly release cycle is biggest issue for sports games. RDR, GTA.. how many years in production between releases? 7? 8? And they're not even recreating the wheel. Their formula was locked in with GTA3. Nearly 25 years ago!

Its a shame with sports games they can't just release annual roster updates and release a fresh game every 3-4 years.

[Ghost Of The Year]

Its a shame with sports games they can't just release annual roster updates and release a fresh game every 3-4 years.

Eventually some game company is going to try this. And revolutionize what a sports title can be. If I had predict who, i would say the most likely candidate would be 2K making a college basketball game, or EA rebooting NBA Live or maybe even a MLB title. This new NASCAR game would be a great candidate too. But Sony doing it with MLB or EA with Madden or 2K with NBA, those arent going to be the innovators. They have all gotten so huge, they build with the mindset of what they stand to lose than what they can gain. And the real shame of that is, all three built their companies into greatness by being innovative, not by being scared.

[jcar0725]

Eventually some game company is going to try this. And revolutionize what a sports title can be. If I had predict who, i would say the most likely candidate would be 2K making a college basketball game, or EA rebooting NBA Live or maybe even a MLB title. This new NASCAR game would be a great candidate too. But Sony doing it with MLB or EA with Madden or 2K with NBA, those arent going to be the innovators. They have all gotten so huge, they build with the mindset of what they stand to lose than what they can gain. And the real shame of that is, all three built their companies into greatness by being innovative, not by being scared.

They would make a LOT less money with a release every 3-4 years. So I doubt that would ever happen.

[Ghost Of The Year]

They would make a LOT less money with a release every 3-4 years. So I doubt that would ever happen.

Yeah, the only way it works is to spend less , but still make a tidy profit. Like I already said, no one currently making a sports game is going to change their M.O.
It would need to be done by someone not currently making that sports video game.
Which is why I'm not ready to rule out someone like EA and NBA Live, who couldn't make it work before. They'd need to do something drastic to find another way to succeed.
But EA definitely isn't about to try it that way with their NFL NHL CFB or Soccer brands. But maybe they would like to give it another go with MLB or NBA, or even College Basketball.

[delspf]

I will say if they don't at least fix the missing features ( GM contracts in franchise, supposed to be able to be fired/resign ) and add some common sense things to franchise/rtts ( switching positions in rtts doesn't retain your previous position as a secondary ) , i prolly won't be getting it next year

[moTIGS]

I never touch anything that isn't franchise mode in any sports game and judge them entirely through that lens.

I bought The Show this year, and I very much enjoy it. The last version I bought, though, was 20. And aside from a handful of relatively small changes, it kinda feels like the same game to me. Player development is largely the same. Player regression, too, feels about the same. The draft looks different, and there are genuine generational prospects now (one thing I used to complain about a lot, so I'm glad they've added it), but for the most part it kinda feels the same to me. Signing draft picks (and free agents) has changed quite a bit, and I do enjoy the changes there. Likewise for scouting. But the overall experience feels far too familiar for two games five years apart.

I'm sure there are a ton of more subtle changes, but they're lost on me. The actual process of building and managing your roster and farm system over several seasons doesn't change enough year to year for me to consider this an annual purchase.

[Instant C1a55ic]

I consistently pump 150+ hours into each and every year. Has been a day one for me since MLB 07

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[Madden08PCgmr]

They would make a LOT less money with a release every 3-4 years. So I doubt that would ever happen.

Good point, for sure.

But if the lions share of the revenue comes from MUT/DD, I don't see how it would be an insurmountable issue.

Charge $20 for a roster update... heck, re-package what DD is. Make it a monthly subscription or something. Keep good content rolling, even for past versions.

.. but, you're probably right. It is the American way, keep doing the same thing over and over, even if it yields poor results.

[countryboy]

Good point, for sure.

But if the lions share of the revenue comes from MUT/DD, I don't see how it would be an insurmountable issue.

Charge $20 for a roster update... heck, re-package what DD is. Make it a monthly subscription or something. Keep good content rolling, even for past versions.

.. but, you're probably right. It is the American way, keep doing the same thing over and over, even if it yields poor results.

Per the MLB licensing agreement, SDS is required to release the game yearly


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[Ghost Of The Year]

Per the MLB licensing agreement, SDS is required to release the game yearly


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah, after MLB tried to give RBI an opportunity to get their foot in the door with their licensed video game, (which RBI failed miserably)
I would have to think MLB wants more than Sony can give them (MLB). So if The Show were to consider a biannual or triannual release (and at this point that's something Sony has zero interest in) but for the sake of discussion, if Sony were interested in moving away from a yearly release, MLB would need to be convinced its the right move.
And like I said previously, MLB is not content with what The Show brings yearly. They want more, which is why we're seeing a possible door opened for Konami now.
Unless Sony could convince MLB a biannual release is the best option for Sony to give MLB what it wants, its never happening. But all of that discussion is a moot discussion because right now neither Sony or MLB is interested in moving away from a yearly release. So at this point it would need to be some other video game company to convince MLB a biannual release is the best path forward. And if Konami pitched it to MLB as viable, MLB would need to revisit their RBI fail to know that an annual release is not necessarily a grand slam grand idea.

So the only way The Show would ever move away from a yearly release is if someone else is wildly successful first. And realistically, that's something that is years and years down the road that the only future Sony has with MLB is being tied to a yearly release.

[countryboy]

Yeah, after MLB tried to give RBI an opportunity to get their foot in the door with their licensed video game, (which RBI failed miserably)
I would have to think MLB wants more than Sony can give them (MLB). So if The Show were to consider a biannual or triannual release (and at this point that's something Sony has zero interest in) but for the sake of discussion, if Sony were interested in moving away from a yearly release, MLB would need to be convinced its the right move.
And like I said previously, MLB is not content with what The Show brings yearly. They want more, which is why we're seeing a possible door opened for Konami now.
Unless Sony could convince MLB a biannual release is the best option for Sony to give MLB what it wants, its never happening. But all of that discussion is a moot discussion because right now neither Sony or MLB is interested in moving away from a yearly release. So at this point it would need to be some other video game company to convince MLB a biannual release is the best path forward. And if Konami pitched it to MLB as viable, MLB would need to revisit their RBI fail to know that an annual release is not necessarily a grand slam grand idea.

So the only way The Show would ever move away from a yearly release is if someone else is wildly successful first. And realistically, that's something that is years and years down the road that the only future Sony has with MLB is being tied to a yearly release.

I'm not sure how you draw the conclusion that the reason for the yearly release of MLBTS is due to the MLB not being happy with the product they produce. The MLB licensing agreement has always been for yearly releases, even back when MLB 2K was making a game in competition with MLBTS. And I'm not sure why MLB would be disappointed in a product that sells extremely well on a yearly basis, and the current developer of their "product" has won the DICE Sports Game of the Year Award in 2024 (for MLB '23) and 2025 (for MLB '24).

And in the same respect, there is no door being opened for Konami due to the MLB being disappointed in SDS product because the MLB license isn't exclusive to SDS and never has been. 2K, Konami, EA, Microsoft (they have the rights to the High Heat series) can all produce a MLB game if they so choose. Nothing is stopping them.

The yearly release of a product branding a professional sports leagues license has always been the case whether its MLB, NHL, NBA, or the NFL.