MLB The Show 21 will be the first Sony published game on a Microsoft platform

MLB: The Show 21 is set to become the first PlayStation Studios game on Xbox when it launches on 20 April.

In a PlayStation Blog announcement of cover athlete Fernando Tatis Jr., the PlayStation account also revealed that the baseball sim will be launching day and date on both PS4 and PS5, alongside cross-play support with Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.

This follows an earlier leak of box art for MLB The Show 21, with the image posted by Instagram user @anerdydad on Sunday, January 31.

While the news might seem like a shock to any Xbox and PlayStation purists out there, it was already announced in 2019 that MLB The Show 21 will serve as the franchises’ first multi-platform game ever.

In the PlayStation Blog post, Ramone Russell, Game Designer & Online Community Manager at San Diego Studio, revealed that MLB: The Show 21 would become the first title in the MLB franchise to make its way to a non-PlayStation platform.

He writes: “We’re excited to share that, with our announced extension with the MLB® and MLB Players, MLB The Show 21 will be available for players on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. This is a very exciting moment for all of us as the storied franchise will be accessible to more gamers than before.”

Russell also confirms that cross-play between PlayStation and Xbox users will be in the game, as well as cross-progression for “whatever platform and generation you choose”.

While a baseball sim might not appeal to everyone, it’s a pretty big deal to see a PlayStation game being published on an Xbox console. Could this open the door for more cross-console games? With the Xbox Bethesda acquisition set to change the gaming landscape in the coming years, all eyes will be on how PlayStation and Microsoft start to work with each other.

For more on what to expect from PS5 and Xbox Series X, check out our guide to new games 2021.