MLB The Show 25 is set to mark quite a switch-up for Sony’s iconic baseball franchise. With several new gameplay changes and improvements to the long-standing Diamond Dynasty mode, MLB The Show 25 looks to be listening to some long-standing fan demands in this year’s entry. As the milestone 20th entry in the series, it appears San Diego Studio is pulling all the stops on this new celebration of the franchise.
While its gameplay changes will certainly be the talk of the town, one other much-discussed element of the MLB The Show franchise is its cover athlete. Every year, one star athlete is chosen to represent the franchise (and the game of baseball as a whole) on the front cover of Major League Baseball’s popular title. To that end, MLB The Show 25 is breaking another long-standing franchise tradition in a big way.
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MLB The Show 25 Is Already Set Up To Have The Best Diamond Dynasty Mode Yet
MLB The Show 25 is already showing great progress to Diamond Dynasty mode by making much needed changes to appease baseball fans.
MLB The Show 25’s Milestone Celebration Will Break Up The Formula
MLB The Show 25 Features Multiple Cover Stars
MLB The Show 25 breaks a major series tradition in terms of its cover athletes. For the first time in the franchise’s long history, this new entry will feature multiple players as the cover athlete at the same time. The game’s front cover will feature Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz, Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson, and Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes.
All three of these 2024 All-Star players are 23 years old or younger, and Henderson and Skenes have recently received Rookie of the Year Awards in their respective leagues. These players represent a youth movement for Major League Baseball, and all three are expected to be among the best players in the league for several years to come. This emphasis on the future seems to tie in with MLB The Show 25, the 20th entry in the franchise, being a milestone celebration for the series.
Previous MLB The Show Games Only Had Different Athletes On Variant Covers
While this is the first time an MLB: The Show game has had multiple cover athletes simultaneously, it’s not technically the first time the game has used multiple cover athletes. From 2012-2018, MLB: The Show’s Canadian releases each featured a distinct player from the home country’s team, the Toronto Blue Jays (excluding MLB The Show 16, whose American cover already featured Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays). The Korean and Taiwanese releases of several entries in the series also featured distinct covers with players hailing from those respective regions.
Some recent entries in the series have also featured alternate covers for their Special Editions featuring legacy players. MLB The Show 21’s Special Edition featured the trailblazing Los Angeles Dodgers legend Jackie Robinson, while MLB The Show 23’s cover featured the former New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter. MLB 13: The Show also allowed fans to vote for the cover athlete – and each nominee would eventually appear in the game’s intro cutscene – but MLB The Show 25 nevertheless represents the first time multiple athletes will grace the cover at once.
This emphasis on the future seems to tie in with MLB The Show 25, the 20th entry in the franchise, being a milestone celebration for the series.
MLB The Show 25’s Changes Are On More Than Just The Cover
MLB The Show 25 will also break a few further traditions that recent entries in the series have followed. After having 11 consecutive entries available on the PlayStation 4, this game will be released specifically on current-generation hardware in the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, though it will also see a release on the Nintendo Switch. Furthermore, after four consecutive entries on Xbox Game Pass, MLB The Show 25 will not be available on any console subscription services at launch.
Sony’s San Diego Studio is clearly hedging its bets on MLB The Show 25 being the best entry in the series. With major gameplay changes and Diamond Dynasty improvements, a focus on next-gen hardware, and a removal from subscription services, this game looks to shake the series more than several previous entries. Its inclusion of three young stars on the cover feels like an ode to the future, both of the franchise and Major League Baseball as a whole.
- Released
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March 18, 2025
- Publisher(s)
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Sony Interactive Entertainment