MLB: The Show

MLB: The Show is a baseball video game series created and developed by San Diego Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The series has received critical and commercial acclaim,^[1][2][3][4] and since 2014 has been the sole Major League Baseball simulation video game on the market for consoles.^[5]

MLB: The Show
MLB: The Show current logo
Genre(s)	Sports
Developer(s)	San Diego Studio
Publisher(s)	Sony Interactive Entertainment MLB Advanced Media
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch
First release	MLB 06: The Show PlayStation 2 February 28, 2006
Latest release	MLB The Show 25 March 18, 2025

The series debuted in 2006 with MLB 06: The Show for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable, following the MLB series from 989 Sports. There has been a new release in the series every year since 2006.

The series was released on PlayStation 2 from 2006's MLB 06: The Show through 2011's MLB 11: The Show and was available on the PlayStation 3 from MLB 07: The Show through MLB The Show 16. Portable versions of the series for either the PlayStation Portable or PlayStation Vita accompanied every entry from MLB 06: The Show through MLB 15: The Show. The series started releasing on the PlayStation 4 with MLB 14: The Show.

After over two decades of exclusivity with PlayStation consoles, MLB: The Show ceased to be released only on PlayStation, and started to be released on other consoles by MLB Advanced Media, though the edition of the game at the time—MLB The Show 20—was a PlayStation 4 exclusive.^[5] MLB The Show 21 is the first title in the series to feature on the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S; MLB The Show 22 is the first game of the series to be on a Nintendo console, released on the Nintendo Switch.^[6]

Gameplay

Gameplay simulates a game of professional baseball, with the player controlling an entire team, a team's manager, or a select player. The player may take control of one of 30 Major League Baseball teams in any game mode and also is able to chose from 6 special team including NL and AL all star teams. (excluding Road to the Show) and use that team in gameplay. The Series has variable game modes in which a player takes control of a team for a single game, one season, or a franchise (multiple seasons).^[7]

The online gameplay mode Diamond Dynasty allows users to create teams through collecting cards of current players and MLB legends. Take your team into Ranked Seasons, Battle Royale, and Events to earn rewards to continue upgrading your team. Complete collections to stay up to date with the newest content added to MLB The Show weekly and yearly.

The offline gameplay mode Road to the Show allows users to take control of their own ballplayer on their journey through high school, college, the minor leagues, and to the MLB in hopes of one day becoming a member of the Hall of Fame. Players earn upgrade tokens and equipment packages to level up their player on the rise to fame.

Predecessors from 989 Sports

Main article: 989 Sports Major League Baseball series

Game	Release date	Cover Athlete		Platforms
		Star	Team
MLB Pennant Race	October 14, 1996	David Justice	Atlanta Braves	PlayStation
MLB '98	July 1, 1997	Bernie Williams	New York Yankees
MLB '99	March 31, 1998	Cal Ripken Jr.	Baltimore Orioles
MLB 2000	February 28, 1999	Mo Vaughn	Anaheim Angels
MLB 2001	February 29, 2000	Chipper Jones	Atlanta Braves
MLB 2002	May 7, 2001	Andruw Jones
MLB 2003	June 17, 2002	Barry Bonds	San Francisco Giants
MLB 2004	April 30, 2003	Shawn Green	Los Angeles Dodgers	PlayStation, PlayStation 2
MLB 2005	March 4, 2004	Eric Chavez	Oakland Athletics
MLB 2006	March 8, 2005	Vladimir Guerrero Sr.	Los Angeles Angels	PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable

Games

Game	Release date	Cover Athlete		Platforms
		Star	Team
MLB 06: The Show	February 28, 2006	David Ortiz	Boston Red Sox	PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable
MLB 07: The Show	February 27, 2007 (PS2/PSP)	David Wright	New York Mets	PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable
	May 15, 2007 (PS3)
MLB 08: The Show	March 4, 2008	Ryan Howard	Philadelphia Phillies
MLB 09: The Show	March 3, 2009	Dustin Pedroia	Boston Red Sox
MLB 10: The Show	March 2, 2010	Joe Mauer	Minnesota Twins
MLB 11: The Show	March 8, 2011
MLB 12: The Show	March 6, 2012	Adrián González	Boston Red Sox	PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita
MLB 13: The Show	March 5, 2013	Andrew McCutchen	Pittsburgh Pirates
MLB 14: The Show	April 1, 2014 (PS3/Vita)	Miguel Cabrera	Detroit Tigers	PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita
	May 6, 2014 (PS4)
MLB 15: The Show	March 31, 2015	Yasiel Puig	Los Angeles Dodgers
MLB The Show 16	March 29, 2016	Josh Donaldson	Toronto Blue Jays	PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4
MLB The Show 17	March 28, 2017	Ken Griffey Jr.	Seattle Mariners	PlayStation 4
MLB The Show 18	March 27, 2018	Aaron Judge	New York Yankees
MLB The Show 19	March 26, 2019	Bryce Harper	Philadelphia Phillies
MLB The Show 20	March 17, 2020	Javier Báez	Chicago Cubs
MLB The Show 21	April 20, 2021	Fernando Tatís Jr.	San Diego Padres	PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
MLB The Show 22	April 5, 2022	Shohei Ohtani	Los Angeles Angels	PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch
MLB The Show 23	March 28, 2023	Jazz Chisholm Jr.	Miami Marlins
MLB The Show 24	March 19, 2024	Vladimir Guerrero Jr.	Toronto Blue Jays
MLB The Show 25	March 18, 2025	Paul Skenes Elly De La Cruz Gunnar Henderson	Pittsburgh Pirates Cincinnati Reds Baltimore Orioles	PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch

Special Edition covers

Game	Star	Team
MLB The Show 21	Jackie Robinson	Brooklyn Dodgers
MLB The Show 22	Shohei Ohtani	Los Angeles Angels
MLB The Show 23	Derek Jeter	New York Yankees

International covers

Canada

Game	Star	Team
MLB 12: The Show	José Bautista	Toronto Blue Jays
MLB 13: The Show
MLB 14: The Show	Brett Lawrie
MLB 15: The Show	Russell Martin
MLB The Show 16	Josh Donaldson
MLB The Show 17	Aaron Sanchez
MLB The Show 18	Marcus Stroman

Korea

Game	Star	Team
MLB 06: The Show	Chan Ho Park	San Diego Padres
MLB 14: The Show	Shin-Soo Choo	Texas Rangers
MLB 15: The Show
MLB The Show 16	Jung-ho Kang	Pittsburgh Pirates
MLB The Show 17	Hyun-soo Kim	Baltimore Orioles

Taiwan

Game	Star	Team
MLB 13: The Show	Wei-Yin Chen	Baltimore Orioles
MLB 14: The Show
MLB 15: The Show
MLB The Show 16		Miami Marlins
MLB The Show 17

Commentators

Commentator	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	Total appearances
Matt Vasgersian	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	16
Dave Campbell	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	7
Rex Hudler	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	6
Eric Karros	N	N	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	6
Steve Lyons	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	4
Harold Reynolds	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	Y	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	1
Dan Plesac	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	5
Mark DeRosa	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	4
Heidi Watney	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	3
Jon Sciambi	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	4
Chris Singleton	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	4
Total	3	3	3	3	3	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	2	2	2	2

Reception and sales

Year	Game	Sales	Refs.
1997	MLB '98
1998	MLB '99	2.52 million
1999	MLB 2000
2000	MLB 2001
2001	MLB 2002
2002	MLB 2003
2003	MLB 2004	660,000
2004	MLB 2005	900,000
2005	MLB 2006	400,000
2006	MLB 06: The Show	940,000 (PS2), 350,000 (PSP)
2007	MLB 07: The Show	930,000 (PS2), 280,000 (PS3), 280,000 (PSP)
2008	MLB 08: The Show	420,000 (PS2), 700,000 (PS3), 330,000 (PSP)
2009	MLB 09: The Show	330,000 (PS2), 720,000 (PS3), 270,000 (PSP)
2010	MLB 10: The Show	410,000 (PS2), 730,000 (PS3), 210,000 (PSP)
2011	MLB 11: The Show	130,000 (PS2), 590,000 (PS3), 180,000 (PSP)
2012	MLB 12: The Show	930,000 (PS3), 200,000 (PSV)
2013	MLB 13: The Show	840,000 (PS3), 150,000 (PSV)
2014	MLB 14: The Show	430,000 (PS3), 730,000 (PS4), 120,000 (PSV)
2015	MLB 15: The Show	400,000 (PS3), 1.01 million (PS4), 40,000 (PSV)
2016	MLB The Show 16	380,000 (PS3), 960,000 (PS4)
2017	MLB The Show 17	1.16 million
2018	MLB The Show 18	1.06 million
2019	MLB The Show 19	2.52 million
2020	MLB The Show 20
2021	MLB The Show 21	2 million	[8]
2022	MLB The Show 22
2023	MLB The Show 23
2024	MLB The Show 24
2025	MLB The Show 25		Refs.
Total		14.03 million