On January 31, Sony officially announcedMLB The Show 22. Several key reveals were made alongside the announcement, including that Angels pitcher and designated hitterShohei Ohtaniwould be the game’s cover star. One thing that wasn’t revealed, however, was its gameplay. The team at San Diego Studio decided to hold back gameplay to keepMLB The Show 22’s early momentum rolling. The wait has ended, however, as San Diego Studio dropped the first gameplay trailer Wednesday morning.
To be clear, the trailer that San Diego Studio shared today forMLB The Show 22is not an in-depth look at gameplay. There’s no discussion of mechanics, no details about changes or additions, or even a look at the game’s UI. The trailer instead is a sizzle real of key MLB players doing what they do best, like pitching, making catches, swinging the bat, and celebrating. In other words, the trailer’s focus is onMLB The Show 22’s animations, character models, and MLB superstars.
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WhatMLB The Showfans will be asking themselves both before and after watching the trailer is whetherSony San Diegohas actually made any changes to the new game’s visuals. The answer is, unfortunately, that it’s impossible to tell from this trailer alone. From this trailer, it looks a lot likeMLB The Show 22uses the same character models, animations, and visual features ofMLB The Show 21(and years prior). It’s tough to say that with certainty without official confirmation, though.
It’s not an easy process, developing a new game for every year. That’s why sports games likeMadden,FIFA,NBA 2K, andMLB The Showrarely see significant visual improvements from one game to the next. It’s a miracle the team is able to release a new game each year at all.
It’s even more true that visual improvements are challenging to accomplish while the development team is focusing on porting the game to new platforms.MLB The Show 22is being brought to theNintendo Switchfor the first time in 2022, a console with significant performance limitations. Improving visuals significantly while also scaling them down in less than a year would be quite an accomplishment.
Regardless, whatMLB The Show 22’s sizzle gameplay trailer will hopefully do is energize baseball fans for another year of action. It features tons of stars, including legendRandy Johnson, and will be easy for fans of pastMLB The Showgames to settle into. It may not be a major step forward for the franchise, but that’s not really what the franchise is about in the first place.
MLB The Show 22releases April 5 on PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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