During the spring of 2003, console owners had a wealth of choices when it came to choosing a baseball title: All-Star Baseball 2004, High Heat MLB 2004, Inside Pitch 2003, World Series Baseball 2K3, MLB Slugfest 20-04, and MVP 2003. While not all are considered classics today, most offered something unique for gamers, or, at the very least, helped to launch several different classic baseball series.

Ten years later, the well has seemingly run dry on MLB baseball games. Xbox owners have only one choice, save for a few arcade releases--the best (MLB Bobblehead Pros) was just recently pulled from sale and is no longer available. PS3 owners have it a bit better, but current reviews of MLB 2K13 probably reduce the amount of viable choices in half as well.

Current metascores, such as those found on Gamerankings.com put MLB 2K13 solidly in the mediocre category (around 5/10). However, user reviews on Metacritic.com (which to be fair, tend to skew to either ends of the scale) put it at just under 4/10. Our own review on Operation Sports falls right in line with popular opinion.

Major League Baseball 2K13 has not received great marks this year thus far.

It’s not too hard to imagine that the MLB 2K series will be finished after this year. Frankly, it seemed that was the case last year. MLB 2K13 surprised us all, as the game wasn’t truly announced until roughly two months before release.

Examining the Contenders

So, what does the future hold for MLB licensed games as the clock ticks down on this generation? Major League Baseball made it clear this year that they do not want to go a year without a presence on the XBox. The field is wide open at the moment, but it appears that someone will be releasing a baseball game on XBox consoles next year.

Microsoft still holds the High Heat franchise name, acquired when 3DO filed for bankruptcy in 2003. At this point, Microsoft has not done anything to either capitalize on their investment into the High Heat franchise name or to even keep the brand fresh in the mind of consumers. However, neither Major League Baseball nor Microsoft would want the new Xbox system to launch without a slated MLB title.

So, again, we know someone is almost certainly bringing baseball to the XBox next year, the question is who?

Could EA be set to jump back into the baseball game?

Another potential producer is Electronic Arts, who published perhaps the most well-respected baseball title of last generation in MVP Baseball 2005. Recent news seems to indicate that a new MVP title is not on EA's radar, at least publicly. It’s entirely possible EA is just playing it close to the vest in order to announce the series' triumphant return at a later date.

Other than these two aforementioned possibilities, any other baseball title would come from another publisher not named Microsoft or Electronic Arts. Of those titles released in 2003, only EA, Microsoft, and 2K remain in business. The other title's publishers -- Acclaim, 3DO, and Midway--are all out of the publishing game for one reason or another. That means any new MLB games not made by EA, Microsoft, or 2K would come from a company new to baseball.

It’s possible that a new company, like Activision or UbiSoft, will negotiate with MLB for the license, or perhaps MLB sees the wisdom in having multiple titles exist in a non-exclusive environment. Maybe we’ll see different types of MLB games beyond just the traditional annual simulations. Regardless, it would certainly be out of character for either Activision or Ubisoft to pursue the MLB license at this time.

The Bigs 2 was a pretty solid arcade baseball title from Take Two.

I think The Bigs series had a lot of potential, capped by the relatively well-regarded Bigs 2. If 2K doesn’t continue with any kind of baseball title, perhaps another arcade game can be created for the XBox in the meantime? This eliminates the need for a new company to develop a realistic simulation model, trade logic, or physics engine (all key components to a valued simulation title). With my limited knowledge of game development, I’m not advocating that an arcade title is easier to make--just acknowledging that they aren’t held to the same kind of statistical realism expectations by customers and critics alike.

Maybe we’ll see some kind of downloadable title, further relying on the trend of digital releases and a move from physical media. For instance, I can envision some sort of MLB Live mode, separate from any other type of game, and heavily reliant on DLC. Imagine paying a small monthly fee for the ability to play as your favorite team real life matchups--think of Fifa’s Live Seasons. I don’t like this idea, but in an industry where risks are mitigated by guaranteed profits, something like this might make financial sense to someone like a 2K.

Perhaps the new consoles will inherit the patterns set by the App Store--low priced and “low content” digital titles. This would allow for stand alone fantasy games--something like MLB: Full Deck--but with greater gameplay. Similarly, EA’s seemingly had a lot of success with their Ultimate Team modes. Adding to this possibility is the increased social networking connection in our games; maybe Facebook-like games start to infest the new consoles as well.

One thing we know for sure: The Show will be alive and well on the PS4.

Where do we go from here?

Of course, these are all just possibilities and speculation. One this is for certain, however: annual baseball games seem to be at a tipping point where something has to give on Microsoft's console.

Either things will digress to the point that The Show is the only way to digitally experience baseball on a console, or we’ll see a turnaround in the quantity and/or quality of titles. It's entirely possible Major League Baseball 2K could have another round in it next season, it's also entirely possible this year's MLB 2K was done as a stopgap to get another publisher live with a game next year, but it's also entirely possible Major League Baseball has backed itself into a corner where there are no suitors to develop an MLB game on the XBox platform and they have no choice but to beg Take Two to put out a game once again next year.

At the present time, prudent baseball fans may look to the PS4 as a safe choice for their next console. We will be watching things, and there's no doubt we'll be keeping an eye on E3 this year at the very least for any news regarding where the MLB license goes from here on Microsoft's console.