''MLB The Show 19'' is a baseball video game by

San Diego Studio San Diego Studio is an American video game developer based in Sorrento Valley, San Diego. A first-party studio for Sony Interactive Entertainment, it is responsible for '' MLB: The Show'' games. The studio also developed the '' NBA'' series, ' ...

and published by

Sony Interactive Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game industry, video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is ma ...

, based on

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). It is the fourteenth entry of the '' MLB: The Show'' franchise, and was released on March 26, 2019, for

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

outfielder

Bryce Harper Bryce Aron Max Harper (born October 16, 1992) is an American professional baseball right fielder and designated hitter for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). Prior to his arrival in Philadelphia, Harper played for the Wash ...

is featured as the cover star.

Matt Vasgersian Matt Vasgersian ( '; born 1967) is an American sportscaster and television host. Vasgersian is a play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Angels, as well as a studio host for MLB Network and Major League Baseball on Fox, FOX Sports. In the pa ...

Mark DeRosa Mark Thomas DeRosa (born February 26, 1975) is an American former professional baseball player who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1998 to 2013. He played for the Atlanta Braves (1998–2004), Texas Rangers (2005–2006), Chicago Cubs ...

and

Dan Plesac Daniel Thomas Plesac (born February 4, 1962) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher with an 18-year career from 1986 to 2003. He played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona Diamondbacks, a ...

call the play-by-plays.

Heidi Watney Heidi Watney (born May 19, 1981) is an American sportscaster who serves as a reporter for Apple TV+. A graduate of the University of San Diego, her past sportscasting experience includes roles at MLB Network, New England Sports Network in Bos ...

joined the game as a sideline reporter and Alex Miniak replaces Mike Carlucci as the public address announcer. Diamond Dynasty, Road to the Show and Franchise game modes return whilst Moments and March to October make their series debuts.

Features

"March to October" makes its debut in this game. "Moments" lets the user relive and recreate famous moments in MLB history. This mode will be intertwined with the ''MLB The Show'''s "Diamond Dynasty", but also can be played strictly offline. As the user complete moments, they receive rewards like diamond dynasty cards and stubs, the game's virtual currency. The game also features an improved emphasis on defense, with updated mechanics and animations. Pitchers are broken down into three categories: "Plain Filthy" (who move the ball well), "Flamethrower" (who throw the heat) and "Control Freak" (who focus on location), while batters are broken down into five: "Pure Power" (power hitters), "Small Ball" (puts the ball in play), "Mr. Utility" (great situational player), "Rock Steady" (solid all around) and "The Anomaly" (Power hitters with great speed). Whilst legends have been an existing feature, this years edition introduced a further thirty names to the list, taking the total to 58 legends appearing in MLB The Show 19.

Christy Mathewson Christopher Mathewson (August 12, 1880 – October 7, 1925), nicknamed "Big Six", "the Christian Gentleman", "Matty", and "the Gentleman's Hurler", was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher, who played 17 seasons with the New York Giant ...

Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the las ...

Jason Kendall Jason Daniel Kendall (born June 26, 1974) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1996 through 2010 for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, and Kan ...

Rob Dibble Rob or ROB may refer to: Places * Rob, Velike Lašče, a settlement in Slovenia * Roberts International Airport (IATA code ROB), in Monrovia, Liberia People * Rob (given name), a given name or nickname, e.g., for Robert(o), Robin/Robyn * Rob ...

Willie Mays Willie Howard Mays Jr. (born May 6, 1931), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid" and "Buck", is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Regarded as one of the greatest players ever, Mays ranks second behind only Babe Ruth on most all-tim ...

Jimmie Foxx James Emory Foxx (October 22, 1907 – July 21, 1967), nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, ...

Iván Rodríguez Iván Rodríguez Torres (born November 27, 1971), nicknamed "Pudge" and "I-Rod", is a Puerto Rican former Major League Baseball catcher. He played for the Texas Rangers (in two separate stints, comprising the majority of his career), Florida ...

Cliff Lee Clifton Phifer Lee (born August 30, 1978) is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher who played for 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Between 2002 and 2014 he played for four teams, most notably the Philadelphia Philli ...

Andruw Jones Andruw Rudolf Jones (; born April 23, 1977) is a Curaçaoan former baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), most notably for the Atlanta Braves. Jones also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, ...

Walter Johnson Walter Perry Johnson (November 6, 1887 – December 10, 1946), nicknamed "Barney" and "The Big Train", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year baseball career in Major League Baseball as a right-ha ...

Kerry Wood Kerry Lee Wood (born June 16, 1977) is an American former baseball pitcher who played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, and New York Yankees. Wood first came to prominence as a 20-year-old rooki ...

Cy Young Denton True "Cy" Young (March 29, 1867 – November 4, 1955) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. Born in Gilmore, Ohio, he worked on his family's farm as a youth before starting his professional baseball career. Young entered th ...

Mark Prior Mark William Prior (born September 7, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and current coach. A onetime top prospect of the Chicago Cubs, he pitched for the team from 2002 to 2006 in a career that was marred by injuries. In ...

Rogers Hornsby Rogers Hornsby Sr. (April 27, 1896 – January 5, 1963), nicknamed "The Rajah", was an American baseball infielder, manager, and coach who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1915–1926, 1933 ...

Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned f ...

Hal Newhouser Harold Newhouser (May 20, 1921 – November 10, 1998), nicknamed "Prince Hal," was an American professional baseball player. In Major League Baseball (MLB), he pitched 17 seasons on the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians, from 1939 through 1 ...

Bret Boone Bret Robert Boone (born April 6, 1969) is a former Major League Baseball second baseman. During his career Boone was a three-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove winner, and two-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He is a third generation professio ...

Don Mattingly Donald Arthur Mattingly (born April 20, 1961) is an American former professional baseball first baseman, coach, and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He is the bench coach for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed ...

A. J. Burnett Allan James Burnett (born January 3, 1977), is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Philadelphia ...

and

Rickey Henderson Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson (born December 25, 1958) is an American retired professional baseball left fielder who played his 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine teams from 1979 to 2003, including four separate tenures with hi ...

all feature as legends for the first time. The legends are playable both online, in modes such as Diamond Dynasty, as well as offline, appearing as free agents in franchise mode.

Commentary

The gameplay announcers are

and

, whilst former

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

field reporter

this year joins The Show series as a sideline reporter. Alex Miniak also replaces Mike Carlucci as the public address announcer and Erik Braa is the narrator of the Road To The Show game mode.

Franchise Mode

Returning favorites include "Franchise Mode" (in which the user can take control of any MLB team over the course of several seasons) and "Road to the Show" (in which the user creates a new player and plays out his career through Double-A, Triple-A and the majors).

Moments Mode

Moments Mode made its debut in the video game series in MLB The Show 19. This mode brings iconic baseball moments to the platform, allowing players to take part in recreating historic moments. The moments included in the game mode vary from as recent as plays by cover athlete

and the 2016

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

, to

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

and

, requiring the user to recreate a sequence of match-winning plays pictured in black and white.

Diamond Dynasty

Once again featuring in the series, Diamond Dynasty is the online mode which allows players to construct their own team through earning and spending ‘stubs’, the online currency. The focus for MLB The Show 19's Diamond Dynasty mode is to promote the accessibility of player cards, earned through playing games, pack openings, purchased on the virtual market as well as earned through reward programs. New features to the game mode include; Team Affinity, rewarding players for using players from their favourite MLB team, Signature Series, a new set of rare player cards to unlock and Ranked Season's.

March to October

March to October is a new game mode to The Show's series on MLB The Show 19. The feature differs from the traditional franchise game mode through creating a streamlined, shortened season experience. Rather than controlling the entire 162 game schedule, the season is condensed to require the player to only play the season's pivotal moments.

Road to the Show

Road to the Show returns to the series in MLB The Show 19. This game mode allows players to create and control an individual pro for a multi season career. Players also have the option to prioritise personality types for their character, these are: * Commander in Chief (team captain). * Maverick (lone-wolf type). * Lighting Rod (no-nonsense result getter). * Heart and Soul (tight social circle).

Release

announced on the second of November 2018 the official release date for MLB The Show 2019 as well as the details regarding special editions. The 2019 edition of the series ‘The Show’ was released on March 26, 2019.

released a closed alpha early access to the video game between the dates of 13–19 December. The closed alpha provided fans early access to participate in game modes such as the Diamond Dynasty, Battle Royale and Play with Friends features. Since its creation, The Show series has been a

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

exclusive video game. However, on December 10, 2019, it was announced as part of

’s renewed deal with the

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

and

MLBPA The Major League Baseball Players Association (or MLBPA) is the collective bargaining, union representing all current Major League Baseball players. All players, Manager (baseball), managers, Coach (baseball), coaches, and athletic trainers who ...

that the video game series will be available to play on

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

and PC from 2021. MLB The Show will be only major baseball franchise available on

and PC platforms.

Cover

On November 2, 2018, it was announced that

would be featured on the cover for the 2019 edition of the game. However, since he was a free agent at the time, he was depicted on the placeholder image in a white hoodie. On February 28, 2019, after Harper signed with the

, the official cover design was released.

Competitive

, in conjunction with the ESL (

Electronic Sports League The ESL Gaming GmbH, doing business as ESL (formerly known as Electronic Sports League), is a German esports organizer and production company that produces video game competitions worldwide. ESL was the world's largest esports company in 2015, ...

), hosted two competitive competitions. In February 2020, 106 professional gamers competed in a competition called the New Year’s Cup Finals. The event was labelled by professional gamer GomesDaLegend as a “disaster”. This was due to the ESL reseeding, the restructuring of the competition tree, once the event had already began, rendering the commenced competition as null and void. In response to the discontent amongst players, Sony announced a new competition would be scheduled, taking place between February 29 and March 1, 2020. Rewards for the tournament were as follows: $4000 for first place, $2000 for second place, $1000 to both third and forth, and $500 for fifth to eighth. Commencing November the 17th 2019, the ESL hosted the Fall Cup Final. The competition involved 128 players competing in a 1 on 1 format on Diamond Dynasty. The winner of the tournament was rewarded with a $4,000 reward, second place received $2,000, third and fourth both received $1,000 whilst fifth to eight won $500. The final, occurring on the 16th of November 2019, was won by gamer Otoxii.

Reception

Whilst previous editions to the MLB The Show series have been critiqued in reviews through failing to provide a considerate update to the video game as well as focusing on microtransactions, these issues have been addressed by the developers at

. MLB The Show 19 has reduced the focus on microtransactions, referring to the need to spend real money in exchange for stubs, in order to benefit in game modes such as Diamond Dynasty. Reviews have highlighted the ability to progress within the Diamond Dynasty game mode without the need of microtransactions. ''MLB The Show 19'' received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

. In its 8.7/10 review, ''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

'' wrote: "Refined gameplay, new modes, and a deep Road to the Show mode give ''MLB The Show 19'' a promising opening day." ''

Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...

'' gave the game 8.5/10, praising its graphics and writing, "After a down year, Sony delivers exciting new content and a host of fixes. The series is back on track." ''

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

'' gave the game 9/10, praising the fielding mechanics, RPG elements of the Road to the Show mode and reward system of the game's card collecting mode.

Sales

In January 2020,

The NPD Group The NPD Group, Inc. (NPD; formerly National Purchase Diary Panel Inc. and NPD Research Inc.) is an American market research company founded on September 28, 1966, and based in Port Washington, New York. In 2017, NPD ranked as the 8th largest mar ...

confirmed that ''MLB The Show 19'' is the best selling baseball genre game in U.S. history.

Awards

References

{{San Diego Studio 2019 video games 18 Multiplayer and single-player video games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation 4-only games Sony Interactive Entertainment games Sports video games with career mode Video games developed in the United States Video games set in Canada Video games set in the United States Video games set in Maryland San Diego Studio games