To say Xbox owners have been starved for good baseball is putting it mildly. For a long while, the best baseball game for Xbox was an arcade-style unlicensed release. During that span, there was one other title that bore the MLB brand and had the league’s teams and players. But it was a lower-budget affair — nothing to write home about, and definitely nothing that could compare to what PlayStation fans have enjoyed for years.
Things changed in Spring 2021, when that PlayStation-exclusive baseball game made its way over to Xbox for the very first time. Right away, it instantly took home the pennant.
The best baseball game for Xbox is MLB The Show 21
A lot of different video game baseball franchises have come and gone over the years. One that has stuck around — and perhaps contributed to the demise of its competitors — has been MLB The Show. Back when it was a PlayStation exclusive, it was easily the most realistic baseball experience to be had on any platform, period. But Xbox owners could only pine for it, hoping that maybe, someday, another company would take a crack at making a big-budget Major League Baseball game.
However, that turned out to be unnecessary. MLB The Show shocked the world when it was announced the series would come to Xbox. It released in Spring 2021, launching day and date on Xbox Game Pass. And just like that, it became the best baseball game for Xbox. Nothing else even comes close.
What make this release unique: It was developed by Sony San Diego
No, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you. The development team behind this game is Sony San Diego. And yes, that is Sony, as in the company that makes the PlayStation 5. MLB The Show was a PlayStation-exclusive franchise solely due to the fact that Sony was the company behind the game. Now, by the grace of the baseball gods, it is available on Xbox.
How did this happen? Well, it is believed that the MLB played some hardball with Sony during contract negotiations. In order for Sony to keep using the MLB license, the company would have to make MLB The Show available not just to PlayStation owners, but Xbox owners as well. That’s the running theory, anyway.
Regardless of whatever backroom arrangements had to be made, MLB The Show is now multiplatform. And because it was already the top-of-the-line baseball experience in existence, its trip over to Microsoft’s family of home consoles makes it the best baseball game for Xbox.
