2K Sports Are Dropping Their MLB 2K Series

In an act of taking care of the Old Yeller of a video game franchise behind the shed, 2K Sports has officially announced in a statement to Polygon that they will no longer be renewing their annual MLB 2K for this year.

"We have decided not to renew our MLB 2K series for 2014. We are very proud of the achievements made by the MLB 2K team and look forward to their contributions to our future titles, including NBA 2K — our industry’s #1 rated and #1 selling basketball franchise."

It looks like 2K Sports will be putting all of their sports eggs into the NBA 2K series basket, as the game has been consistently solid (especially over its competition) over the years.

Honestly, it seems to be a good move for 2K. If they weren’t going to put an honest effort into its development (including being an update only in audio and rosters), then it only makes sense to bow out of the race. As a baseball and baseball-gaming fan, what 2K put out the past 2-3 years of the series was truly deplorable and mostly as a means of retaining rights/grabbing for cash.

The problem for those non-Sony baseball gaming fans is that it leaves the only baseball-playing simulation in the MLB: The Show series for PlayStation consoles and handhelds. While it is an excellent series worth picking up every other year (or, in MLB 2013’s case for rule changes and a wealth of gameplay updates, grabbing that one as well), Sony exclusivity will either force competing console gamers to buy their console or avoid baseball gaming this generation altogether.

Unless more people start picking up Out of the Park baseball management sims for the PC (which they should), Sony’s MLB: The Show series will remain unchecked into the future of baseball gaming. Hopefully another contender shows up quickly; competition breeds innovation, which has served The Show well.