Major League Baseball 2K13 was the last baseball game on Microsoft consoles, for now.

As I mentioned in my review of the PS4, baseball games have always played a large part in my console purchasing decisions; World Series Baseball on the Xbox was the very definition of a "console-seller" for me.

So there's a certain tragedy as we head into 2014 with no sign of baseball on the Xbox One, and no baseball titles other than Sony's own MLB 14: The Show on PS4. The once full field of baseball titles from, say, 2004 (World Series, All-Star, MVP, High Heat, Slugfest) has dwindled to one.

Our only look at next-gen baseball thus far, a much prettier Green Monster at Fenway Park.

While The Show has been a solid, if not stellar, franchise, the lack of choice is usually a bad thing for the consumer. Of course, the MLB 2K franchise of late hasn't been much of a choice.

MLB 2K13 wasn't even expected, until an early January 2013 announcement signaled its impending release only months later. 2K13 debuted to terrible reviews (48 on metacritic, 4 here at OS), mainly because it was clearly a rushed product that felt more like a $60 patch.

MLB 2K13 was produced under a one year extension of 2K's exclusive third-party license with Major League Baseball--a license that reportedly cost them more money than the games brought in.

In 2010, Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick stated that the MLB license was a "losing proposition"--one which they didn't have interest in renewing unless "the economics changed."

The poor reviews and meager sales performance of MLB 2K13 don't seem to portend a change in economics, so it's a fair and reasonable assumption that 2K baseball, for the time being, is dead.

This means no baseball games -- at least of the AAA variety -- on any of Microsoft's console for the near future.

Unless, of course, someone makes a surprise January announcement -- in which case, we'll already have a top news story for 2014.