First MLB The Show 26 Details Revealed

With the World Series complete and 2025 Finest content dropping tomorrow, MLB The Show 25 is officially in the twilight of its life. The winter months typically see the Forever Programs drop, giving players the chance to earn previous bosses and rewards as we all await news on the next iteration of the game.

Following last year's trend, SDS is talking about MLB The Show 26 even sooner and spilling the first details of next year's game.

In an official blog on the official Show site, SDS revealed tidbits on what to expect next year.

First MLB The Show 26 Details

SDS declared that more focus is being put into advanced logic and new data metrics. We don't know what this means yet, but they specifically mention how this will redefine ratings, pitch effects, and bat ball physics.

Reading between the lines, this could imply a new or rebuilt engine leveraging the current generation consoles. Plenty has been said about the game's perceived failure to upgrade drastically with graphics and physics, and this could be a sign of changes coming.

The blurb for Diamond Dynasty promises to "continue delivering engaging content." With DD being live content, it's hard to really discuss without knowing what the content is. What I will say, is that my personal opinion is that SDS absolutely killed it with content this year and presumably they will look to outdo themselves. Card design and program design was great, with the only real buzzkill for me being the continued lack of a Salary Cap mode or theme-team specific mode to take advantage of the massive binders we stockpile.

Road to the Show will see an updated suite of new colleges with an added focus on the mid-to-late career of your ballplayer. It's been a while since I really delved into RTTS, and the addition of colleges was certainly dynamic. I wonder if the "mid-to-late career" line is a hint that we'll see something more akin to NBA 2K26, which truly builds storylines around your created player being a professional athlete in the top league in the world.

Franchise is touched on with the promise of building deeper, more immersive, and challenging systems. There's a lot of room for improvement with The Show's Franchise suite, and I've been dying for a full expansion mode forever. The ability to create an entirely new and unique MLB franchise, take part in the Expansion Draft, and begin building a franchise from the ground up would have me playing Franchise until my eyes bleed.

We also received confirmation that there will be a Season 4 of Storylines: The Negro Leagues. Almost universally beloved, the Storylines mode has been a blast to play every year since it began and I will certainly be looking forward to new Storylines content.

Now & Later Packs

Finally, the Now & Later packs will return to Diamond Dynasty. Special packs will be unleashed in MLB The Show 25 that contain vouchers that will reward packs in MLB The Show 26 after the standard release of the game. Anyone subscribed to The Show's Scouting Report newsletter by November 14 will earn 5 packs, which will give you packs in this year's game as well as when the new game launches.

Beginning on November 21, Now & Later packs will be seeded in the 11th Inning XP Path as well as in a special Now & Later Program coming in early 2026.

I recently wrote about how now is the perfect time to start playing MLB The Show 25 again, and the confirmation of Now & Later packs certainly makes it even better.

Closing Thoughts

These early tidbits are a teaser and obviously nothing juicy, but simply seeing a logo for next year's game is a reminder that the release is right around the corner. There's still plenty of killer cards coming in MLB The Show 25 now that we're in Finest season, but the earlier we hear about the new game the better!

What are you hoping to see most in MLB The Show 26?