Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment and developer San Diego Studio shared new details about MLB The Show 23 today. The information covers the basics like defense and offense, as well as swing commentary, updates configuration, etc. These details cover how the game has been updated from previous entries.
Defend
High Fielding attributes now matter more than ever. The disparity between players in games with high and low field attributes is more noticeable. Players with a lower Field Attribute will exhibit poorer starting transition animations when contact is made early much more frequently than those with a high Field Attribute.
When it comes to our launch interfaces, we have several to choose from depending on player skill and level of engagement. Our most player-friendly interfaces, Buttons and Analog, rely heavily on the Arm Accuracy attribute, which has been adjusted to be consistent with MLB stats. Improve your game with the Button Accuracy Meter, where you have total control over your shots.
If using the Button Accuracy pitch interface, consistent with last year’s game, the green part of the meter (indicates a pitch that will be accurate for the defender), the scales are based on the Arm Accuracy attribute. However, the functionality of the counter has changed. Universally, the meter needle speed is slower than in previous years. This is intentional, as it facilitates future changes. In previous years of The Show, the meter was constant, which meant the green dot was always in the middle. Repetition with this mechanic has led to ease of use for many players. Now on hard plays inside the court and long shots outside the court, the green part of the meter will move dynamically. This change increases realism while adding extra capacity to defense.
On forced throws to first base, players will experience a yellow portion of the meter. This section indicates the ball on the ground region of the counter, leading to the balls being thrown on the ground. The frequency of play made is based on the fielding attribute of the first baseman. Visit the custom practice to experiment and perfect pitch and pitch changes.
Added/reworked two new fender quirks. These two features are Break Outlier and Pick Off Artist. A caster with Break Outlier loses the break at a slower rate than those without the outlier. A pitcher with Pick Off Artist generates twice the chance of a successful pick-off.
Offense
The pitcher-batter dynamics are better than ever with the revamped competitive game engine. And don’t worry, fans of casual or simulation games, we’ve fine-tuned and balanced those playstyles too.
One of the major attribute updates for MLB The Show 23 is that we redefined the Clutch attribute. With runners in scoring position, the clutch attribute directly replaces contact. This helps facilitate greater realism. The battle between a batter’s contact attribute and a pitcher’s hits per 9 innings (H/9) is directly replaced by the batter’s clutch and pitcher’s clutch with RISP.
Two new quirks have been added to the attack. They are Bad Ball Hitter and Table Setter. A hitter with a Bad Ball Hitter will excel at hitting pitches outside the strike zone. A batter with a Table Setter excels without runners on base.
animation
We’ve added over 5,000 game animations to MLB The Show 23. Intercepts, dives, batting stances, added variety to corner kicks and, as always, new animations for urgency and rushing. effectiveness of defensive players.
Styles of play
Playstyles are intended to create unique experiences for all players. Playstyle adjustments for Casual and Simulation take place on an ongoing basis. However, the biggest change in playstyle is to the competitive style of play.
Competitive playstyle is the default for all head-to-head online games and all Diamond Dynasty modes. Competitive playstyle can also be accessed by visiting game settings and toggling the playstyle setting under General Difficulty.
The goal of this style of play is to increase the consistency of a good inning to produce good results and a bad inning to produce bad results, without deviating too far from baseball basics and strategy. Players will notice more hits and misses, fewer popups and choppers, and the hits put in play are slightly better to compensate for the less put in play.
Player clarity, in-game visual updates, and feature enhancements
Updates were made to the game screens. The main focus of the visual display updates revolved around greater clarity among the player base.
sway feedback
Swing Return is an artwork that appears in the lower left corner of the screen after a swing attempt. This information displays the batter’s attributes, pitch location, pitch type, swing timing, and home plate coverage indicator location. Its purpose is to help describe the outcome of the move. Although it is difficult to achieve perfection through this art, advancements have been made to increase the precision and accuracy of the art. Previous versions of MLB The Show swing feedback displayed swing inputs on the left and swing outputs on the right. Now swing feedback is a story that reads from left to right and top to bottom.
In-game directional button functionality
The directional buttons on the left now show live and up-to-date Statcast numbers. Right on the directional buttons, important matches between pitcher and batter are now displayed, trying to present all the factors that impact the bat. This includes dynamically swapping vital attributes and all active quirks. The directional buttons remain relatively consistent with previous years of MLB The Show, with slight feature updates, including the ability to spawn a pitcher warming up without needing to return to the bullpen.
configuration updates
Terminology, organization, and build descriptions have been updated to better inform players of what each build of the game does. There are now two new settings that allow for further customization of pre-launch screens in attack and in defence. These new settings are found under Display and are intended to allow more control over the information presented on screen before launching a pitch. These two parameters are the tone selection screens and the batter control screen.
Additional Visual Updates
The running back windows that display in the top right for a first base running back and top left for a third base running back no longer appear. This camera can now be seen on the base racing diamond in the upper right during preview. The logic is tied to the runner displayed on the camera, which displays the most viable runner based on currently occupied bases. Now that a space has been created in the upper left corner of the screen, important information can be displayed here, such as the increase or decrease in Road to The Show Base Earnings, Moment Tracking, and Stakes. Dynamic difficulty updates.
Custom Practice Updates
We have added some important features to Custom Practice. Now it has some important additions. As they strike, players can now adjust specific throw locations around the strike zone. This tool is very useful to improve your eyesight and improve specific problems. In previous years, players could only enable or disable specific fields. This feature has been expanded, allowing players to choose the frequency of throws via a slider mechanism.
description of attributes
MLB The Show has many attributes, and if you’re new to the franchise, you might not know what they all mean. Be sure to check out the manual/strategy guide that can be found in the game’s pause menu. Attribute descriptions can now also be found in the Diamond Dynasty manual. These descriptions provide detailed information on how each attribute works and interacts with the game. The goal here is to ensure that all players have the information they need to make the best decision possible when building their game. a team or a major management decision in the game.
To access these descriptions, players can navigate to Diamond Dynasty > Home > Rankings, Stats, and History > Manual > Attribute Descriptions.
Passive Quirk Changes
We’ve removed passive quirks from MLB The Show 23. Simplifying the quirk system seems like the best approach here, as there was general confusion about what active quirks did vs. passive quirks. Universally, we hope this change brings more clarity, as only quirks that affect gameplay are shown.
Updated Options Explorer
Browser art and audio options have been updated. This is a great place for players to learn the mechanics offered in MLB The Show. The general rule for game mechanics is that the more control a player has over the mechanics, the less the CPU has the ability to influence gameplay.
MLB Rule Changes
Changes to left wing and right wing trades are now implemented in MLB The Show 23. These changes set a good baseline, but will need to be adjusted based on the actual strategy seen throughout. of the MLB season.
Head-to-head/co-op online play
We are continuously working on improving online stability to provide the best possible experience.
For those cooperative players, Play Now Co-Op now offers the ability to toggle rotation patterns before loading the game. Instead of being locked into rotation-per-tackle roles in defense and rotation-per-bat in attack, teams can now choose additional rotation patterns.
Below is a new “Gameplay” trailer for MLB The Show 23. Keep in mind, though, that it doesn’t show much.
MLB The Show 23 will launch for Switch on March 28, 2023. A Tech Tech now runs until February 21.