The San Diego Studios dev team has, without a doubt, become the shining example and standard for all existing and upcoming developer teams, at least IMO. Back in 2007, when I bought my first (of many to come) The Show game, I thought "nice, a new baseball game to play".
Now in 2015, after buying every single MLB The Show game since, I can say it's more than just a baseball game. Its a game by the players pretty much. I never thought I'd be able to enter a thread for last names and put my last name in it only to see it in the game. That, among other things, shows why this dev team is light years ahead of anyone else when it comes to the community. Dedication and a shared passion for the game of baseball with their consumers.
It's how you build credibility and their devotion to their players (especially us die hards) is why The Show is an annual purchase for me.
