Image courtesy: X(MLB)
As the highly anticipated release of MLB The Show 25 approaches, Sony San Diego Studio (SDS) has unveiled a list of 21 potential new features being considered for the game. These ideas, drawn from surveys distributed to fans, reflect the studio’s commitment to enhancing gameplay across modes like Diamond Dynasty (DD) and Road to the Show (RTTS). Here’s a deep dive into these proposed innovations and their potential impact.
1. One Dimensional Cards
- Description: A card series highlighting a player with extreme attributes in one area (e.g., exceptional hitting but terrible fielding and speed).
- Impact: Adds a strategic element to team building, making roster decisions more nuanced.
2. Visual Unlockables
- Description: Unlock cosmetic items that alter gameplay visuals, such as a pumpkin-shaped baseball or golden cleats.
- Impact: While cosmetic changes like golden cleats could add flair, altering gameplay visuals (e.g., pumpkin baseballs) might disrupt immersion for some players.
3. Duo Diamond Cards
- Description: Cards featuring two players. When both are in your lineup, their attributes receive a boost.
- Impact: Encourages creative roster construction and synergy between players.
4. Icon Challenges
- Description: Challenges with unconventional requirements (e.g., hit 100 triples or 10 home runs with players under 40 power) to unlock vanity items like badges and uniforms.
- Impact: Adds fun, grindable objectives but could benefit from more impactful rewards like cards or stubs.
5. Retro Draft Cards
- Description: Features players on their draft day or at their first spring training. Attributes are based on scouting grades, and card art reflects vintage and modern logos.
- Impact: Offers a nostalgic look at players’ origins but risks redundancy with rookie cards already in the game.
6. Team Affinity Boosts
- Description: Attribute boosts activated when players show loyalty to a team (e.g., equipping favorite team skins or playing in their stadium).
- Impact: Enhances team-themed lineups and adds a personal touch for fans.
7. Home Run (HR) Belt
- Description: A WWE-style championship belt awarded to players after a home run, visible until their next at-bat without a homer.
- Impact: Adds a fun visual reward but might clash with the game’s realism.
8. Rogue Card Series
- Description: Cards start at a low overall and upgrade as players complete missions, offering a progressive grind experience.
- Impact: Excellent for grinders and non-competitive players looking to develop cards over time.
9. Rival Diamond Cards
- Description: Cards featuring players with boosts when facing a specific rival team or player.
- Impact: Adds a situational layer of strategy to lineup decisions.
10. College Card Series
- Description: Features MLB players with college affiliations, blending their professional and collegiate identities (e.g., Paul Skenes with Pirates and LSU branding).
- Impact: Potentially integrates college baseball elements, broadening the game’s appeal.
11. Mastery Badges
- Description: Cosmetic rewards based on achievements with players (e.g., hit 50 home runs to unlock a bronze badge).
- Impact: Encourages long-term engagement with specific players.
12. Double XP Tokens
- Description: Consumable items granting temporary XP boosts, usable at the player’s discretion.
- Impact: Offers flexibility for players to maximize rewards during play sessions.
13. Online Mini Seasons
- Description: Online leagues featuring fantasy drafts, trades, and competitive mini-seasons.
- Impact: Adds depth and replayability to the Mini Seasons mode with multiplayer integration.
14. Prop Bets
- Description: Predict real-life MLB events for in-game rewards, such as picking Home Run Derby winners.
- Impact: Connects real-life baseball with the virtual game, offering an interactive experience.
15. Double PXP
- Description: Tokens that double Parallel XP gain, enabling faster player progression.
- Impact: Speeds up progression but risks devaluing the grind.
16. Purchasable Perks
- Description: Gameplay-enhancing perks purchasable and equippable in Diamond Dynasty.
- Impact: Controversial in competitive modes; great for casual or single-player use.
17. PSA Grading
- Description: Rare, limited-edition cards with unique art, akin to real-life collectible baseball cards.
- Impact: Appeals to collectors but limited value in gameplay due to attribute parity with base cards.
18. Clubs
- Description: Social groups within Diamond Dynasty where players collaborate on missions and compete against other clubs.
- Impact: Promotes community engagement but may feel shallow if rewards aren’t compelling.
19. Card Cosmetics
- Description: Alternative skins for cards, unlockable through gameplay.
- Impact: Primarily aesthetic; unlikely to impact gameplay significantly.
20. Diamond Dynasty Commissioner
- Description: A rotating “commissioner” changes rules (e.g., pitchers must hit) every two weeks. Users vote on rule changes.
- Impact: Brings dynamic variety to Diamond Dynasty but might alienate purists.
21. Enhanced Chemistry System
- Description: Expands on last year’s system to reward lineup synergies and thematic builds.
- Impact: Encourages creative and strategic team-building.
Conclusion: A Bold Vision for MLB The Show 25
The 21 potential features for MLB The Show 25 highlight Sony San Diego Studio’s willingness to innovate and respond to fan feedback. While some ideas, like Rogue Cards and Team Affinity Boosts, could elevate the gameplay experience, others, such as Purchasable Perks, may face pushback from the community.
Whether or not all these features make it into the game, their consideration demonstrates SDS’s dedication to keeping the franchise fresh and engaging. Fans eagerly await the official announcements and the release, slated for March 2025.
