''MLB The Show 20'' is a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

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by Sony Interactive Entertainment and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, 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). The fifteenth entry of the '' MLB: The Show'' franchise, it was officially released on March 17, but customers that digitally pre-ordered the game were given an early release on March 13. Chicago Cubs infielder

Javier Báez Ednel Javier Báez (born December 1, 1992), nicknamed "El Mago" (Spanish for "The Magician"), is a Puerto Rican professional baseball shortstop for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Chicago Cu ...

is featured as the cover star. For the first time ever, Minor League Baseball players are fully licensed and have their names and likenesses featured in the game. In previous versions of the game, Minor League players were not licensed and were replaced with generic players. As well, the team and logo editor that were previously exclusive to Diamond Dynasty were brought over to the game's Franchise mode.

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 FOX Sports. In the past, he has served as an an ...

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 Cub ...

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, and ...

return as play-by-play commentators;

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 ...

returns as sideline reporter and Alex Miniak returns as public address commentator. Upon release, ''MLB The Show 20'' was generally well-received by critics, who praised the new fielding and hitting mechanics, and new features in the Diamond Dynasty mode, while criticism was given to technical issues at launch. ''MLB The Show 20'' is the final game in the series to be a PlayStation-exclusive, as its successor, ''

MLB The Show 21 ''MLB The Show 21'' is a baseball video game by San Diego Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, based on Major League Baseball (MLB). It was released for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, as well as the Xbox One and Xbox Ser ...

'' also released 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 ...

Development

New features in the game included online modes such as "Showdown" and "Custom Leagues". "Showdown" is a mode that begins with a player selected in a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

, and it will use in the "Moments" mode. The "Custom Leagues" mode is another online-only mode that using the choice of 40-man live MLB roster or create a custom team from the ''MLB The Show''s "Diamond Dynasty" mode. Returning modes included "Franchise Mode" (in which the player can take control of any MLB team over the course of several seasons, but with the new customized team and logo creator and franchise relocation option, in which the player will create a team, the team's logo or relocate the team to designated location), "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), "March To October" (in which the player will select the team for a full MLB season through the regular season, the

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or d ...

, the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

, and the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

), and "Moments" (which the user relive and recreate famous moments in MLB history). In addition, the game featured real-life, fully licensed Minor League Baseball players for the first time in the series, unlike in previous games where the real players were not licensed and were replaced with generic players, in conjunction with Scott Spindler and his Ridin Rosters group. The game features the new

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uniforms for the first time, previous games formerly used

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as their uniform supplier. The game also included real-life and authentic stadium advertisements for the first time, previous games in the series did not include authentic stadium advertisements and replaced it with fake brands. Advertisements for Chevrolet, Chick-fil-A,

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

, Citgo,

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, and

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could now be seen in these selected stadiums within the game.

Reception

''MLB The Show 20'' received "generally favorable reviews" from critics, according to

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that 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 average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

. 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: "MLB The Show 20 isn't the biggest upgrade the series has ever seen, but it's a solid one with a few good highlights and no real downsides." ''

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 8.75/10, praising its new hitting and fielding mechanics and new features in Diamond Dynasty, "Another good outing for the series, complete with additions across the board and gameplay that emphasizes skill." ''

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 8/10, praising the fielding and hitting mechanics, but criticizing the new custom teams and Online Leagues additions.

Soundtrack

References

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