Spring is just around the corner and that means life is about to get a whole lot better. Baseball fans across the world relish the return of America’s great pastime along with the return of peanuts, Yasiel Puig, Matt Vasgersian, and of course, MLB 15: The Show. As many of you are excited for the new MLB season to begin, the team here in San Diego is just as excited to show you everything we’ve been working on for MLB 15 The Show.

Take a look at some of the features we’re particularly proud of below. Be sure to head over to The Show Nation to see the full feature list.

Year-to-Year Saves

(PS4, PS3, PS Vita)

Users who purchased MLB 14 The Show will be able to continue their Franchise and Road to the Show progress in MLB 15 The Show with the Year-to-Year Saves feature. Saves between the two versions will be forward-compatible, meaning you don’t have to worry about starting your Franchise or Road to The Show seasons over!

Gameplay Improvements

(PS4 & PS3 Only)

Advanced AI logic results in outfielders taking more realistic routes to the ball

Upgraded motion system allows for dynamic speed matching from run to catch to throw

User controlled cut offs

All new slide and tag system

New speed paradigm for fielders and base runners

Enhanced ball physics for pop ups, fly balls, and shots into the gap

Dynamic pitch breaks: allows for more realistic pitch recognition when batting

Simplified Analog swing controls

Dynamic Difficulty 2.0

New situational base covering intelligence allows for new animations to play when a player has time or is in a hurry to get to his base

More than 70 new situational third out fielding animations

New Input Type option for hitting

We’ve separated swing input as a separate option

Licensed Equipment

(PS4 & PS3 Only)

For the first time ever MLB The Show will include licensed equipment from some of the most recognizable brands in baseball. Earn as you play to enhance your RTTS or Diamond Dynasty players and partner with iconic brands by bringing sponsorships to your Franchise team!

(Equipment on PS3 version is not seen during gameplay.)

Graphical Improvements

(PS4 Only)

Real-time seasonal sun and shadows

Player Skin tone realism. More variations of skin tones with gloss and specular improvements

Revamped night lighting

More accurate and photorealistic rendering system

PS4 gets 10 more Minor League stadiums

Franchise Mode Refresh

(PS4, PS3, PS Vita)

With the addition of General Manager Contracts, you now have to consider Ownership Expectations when running your team, and your performance will determine the job offers that come your way. Building a championship-caliber team is more fun and dynamic than ever before, with the new Performance-based Player Progression, as well as much improved Trade and Contract logic. Partner up with Brand Sponsors, giving your broadcast elements an official sponsor and earn some extra dough to spend on your team.

Directional Hitting Interface

(PS4, PS3, PS Vita)

Featured for the first time in MLB 15 The Show is the new Directional Hitting interface, which allows you to influence the direction of your hits in real-time while you swing. Using the L-Stick, you can attempt to influence fly balls, ground balls, pushed hits, pulled hits, or any of those in combination.

Universal Rewards

(PS4 & PS3 Only)

Virtual Baseball cards to be collected and easily assembled into a competitive Diamond Dynasty team

Licensed Bats, Gloves, Batting Gloves, and Cleats that enhance your Road to the Show or Diamond Dynasty players’ abilities

Brand Sponsorships for your Franchise team that spice up your in-game interface and earn your team some extra income

Collect entire teams to unlock MLB legendary alumni players from each MLB team

Legends

(PS4, PS3, PS Vita)

We partnered with the MLB Player’s Alumni Association to make a total of 30 Legends playable in MLB 15 The Show. Collect an entire MLB team, and you’ll unlock an iconic alumni player from that team. There’s one from each team, and though you’ll have to find or unlock the card to slot them into your Dynasty squad, you can simply opt in to utilizing the whole pool of Legends in your Franchise mode.

“Inside The Show” News Suite

(PS4, partial PS3)

Franchise, RTTS, and Season modes all feature a new suite of features centered on providing news updates from around the league. Inside The Show is a new radio broadcast that will be heard at the beginning of each new day and will discuss recent scores, notable performances, team news, milestones, records, standings, and more. In addition, the new League Updates panel, found in season based modes, gives the user a quick snapshot of updates from around the League so you don’t have to dig through multiple screens to get the basics.

As you can see, our goal this year was to build off the solid foundation of MLB 14 and expand on the game we love to make MLB 15 The Show the best baseball game ever made.

Worldwide Gameplay Reveal on Twitch

We’re also excited to announce the worldwide gameplay reveal of MLB 15 The Show on February 5th at 2:00PM pacific on Twitch. Tune in to the livestream via the San Diego Studio Twitch channel to get an exclusive look at MLB 15 and hear from our team on the features we’re most excited about for MLB 15. We can’t wait to show off what we’ve been working on and interact with our amazing fans!

MLB 15 The Show will be launching on March 31st for PS4, PS3 and PS Vita so stay tuned to our Facebook, Twitter, and Twitch pages for more info coming soon.