Angels outfielder Shohei Ohtani has been revealed as the cover athlete for MLB The Show 22, which will come to PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox platforms this spring. A San Diego Studio-developed franchise, MLB The Show first migrated to Xbox with the early 2021 release of MLB The Show 21. Surprisingly, the typically PlayStation-exclusive sports game also launched day-and-date on Game Pass, a move that will repeat itself in the coming months.As Sony Interactive Entertainment’s only annualized series, MLB The Show constitutes a significant part of the PlayStation brand. Last year’s announcement of the shift to multiplatform hardly came as a surprise, however. In 2019, Sony and the MLB extended their long-running partnership and, in so doing, hinted the baseball sim would begin migrating to other consoles. Why such a monumental change came to pass remains a mystery, but critics and players alike posit the game publisher likely had little choice in the matter if it wanted to keep the exclusive MLB license.Related: MLB The Show 21 Players Use Stadium Creator to Build Classic BallparksIn a post on the official PlayStation Twitter account, Sony confirmed Shohei Ohtani as the cover athlete for MLB The Show 22. The new entry in the long-running baseball sim will come to Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on April 5 along with a day one Xbox Game Pass release on the Microsoft-owned consoles. Sony shared images of the PS4 and PS5 box art for MLB The Show 22 on the PlayStation Blog, with a write-up that also confirmed that players across all platforms can expect to enjoy cross-play, cross progress, and cross saves. The Collector’s Edition won’t receive a formal reveal until February 2, however, Sony noted dual entitlement will apply to those who pick up the PS4 disc and later decide to upgrade to PS5. Standard versions will require PS4 users to buy the digital edition in order to access the $10 upgrade on the newer console.[EMBED_TWITTER]https://twitter.com/PlayStation/status/1488195690174066691[/EMBED_TWITTER]Akin to the backlash surrounding Horizon Forbidden West’s PS5 upgrade, the $10 upgrade for MLB The Show 22 is bound to ruffle a few feathers. Sony did make it clear in the past, however, that Forbidden West would serve as the last free upgrade out of the first-party stable. Yet, the dual entitlement for MLB The Show 22’s Collector’s Edition raises a few questions about how exactly Sony will handle such situations as cross-gen releases persist.The game’s cover athlete, Shohei Ohtani, enjoyed incredible success throughout the 2021 season, managing 46 home runs, 26 stolen bases, and 156 strikeouts from atop the mound. With the above stats in mind, it seems as though he was the most obvious choice for MLB The Show 22’s cover star. Although the MLB is currently in a lockout, fans will be able to satiate their love for baseball soon.Next: MLB The Show 21 Player Recreates Scene From The SandlotMLB The Show 22 hits Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on April 5.Source: PlayStation/Twitter, PlayStation Blog
