MLB The Show 24 Release Date, Game Modes and More

February 16, 2024 by Cory Dell

The pre-release hype train for MLB The Show 24 has left the station. Over the next month, there’s going to be plenty of news released ranging from details on game modes, new legends and more.

There’s not a ton currently known about this year’s game, but as news is released we’ll update this post with everything relevant for a one-stop shop on all things MLB The Show 24.

MLB The Show 24 Release Date

MLB The Show 24 officially releases on March 19 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch. Those that pre-order one of the special editions will gain Early Access that begins on March 15. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. follows in Daddy Vladdy’s footsteps as cover athlete this year.

For a detailed breakdown of the various editions and the included bonuses, take a look at the banner below:

Game Modes

We can gleam a bit of information on game modes from the official retail listings for MLB The Show 24. Per the official listings, we can expect Storylines, Franchise, Diamond Dynasty, Road to the Show and March to October to return. This hardly comes as a surprise as these modes are the core Show experience. Time will tell if we get any new modes to talk about but we may simply be in “wait and see” mode to see how these modes are hopefully improved.

Storylines: Negro Leagues Season 2

It was already known that another season of Storylines would be included this year. What wasn’t known was which legends would be highlighted this time around and how the mode might be involved.

Thanks to the first Feature Premiere, we learned a few details about Storylines Season 2. Instead of getting all the stories at once, we’ll get four legends at launch with three more releasing two weeks later and a final batch of three two weeks after that. The first four legends to be featured will be Hank Aaron, Buck Leonard, Josh Gibson and the first female to ever appear in MLB The Show – Toni Stone.

We also know that every legend from Storylines Season 1 will return in this year’s game. Whether they’re included in Storylines or simply available in Diamond Dynasty is yet to be learned.

Storylines: Derek Jeter

In addition to the second season of Storylines: Negro Leagues, SDS announced we’ll be getting a new iteration of the mode entirely featuring Derek Jeter.

Storylines: Derek Jeter will follow the same style as the Negro Leagues, featuring in-depth narrative alongside gameplay. Derek Jeter himself participated in sit-down interviews to detail his storied career.

Per the feature premiere, we’ll be getting 1995-2000 at launch with the rest of Jeter’s career dropping a couple weeks after launch.

Road to the Show

SDS announced a new, unique narrative experience in Road to the Show: Women Pave Their Way.

We already knew women were included in MLB The Show for the first time with the inclusion of Toni Stone, but SDS upped the ante.

A full-fledge narrative experience within RTTS will allow the creation of female ballplayers for the first time. This appears to be a standalone experience, so those wishing to play through RTTS with a male ballplayer will still be able to do so.

Franchise

Unfortunately, no impactful changes are coming to Franchise with MLB The Show 24. There’s the usual “logic improvements” as well as full implementation of MLB’s new rules, but there’s simply nothing major being added.

There’s an added simulation control where you can set parameters that allow you to jump into game at specific times. This only applies to your simulated games, of course. If you’re someone that wants to play every game already then this feature does nothing for you.

SDS confirmed that post-launch updates will come to Franchise, though it’s doubtful we’ll see any major additions. For another year, MLB The Show’s Franchise mode lacks a true Owner Mode or Expansion Draft.

Gameplay

There is an additional 400 new animations and logic improvements in MLB The Show 24. The rule changes that happened starting in 2023 are finally in the game as well. The pitch clock, disengagement rule and increase base sizes are all new additions to gameplay this year. Presumably many of those 400 new animations revolve around these added rules.

Pinpoint Pitching is getting some notable changes. First, left-handed pitchers will now have a flipped gesture. The gestures will be identical to right-handed pitchers, only flipped in the opposite direction. Four new pitch gestures are being added, included an adjusted Sinker gesture. This new gesture is intended to make the pitch more difficult to throw consistently, another attempted remedy to the overpowered Sinker online.

Lastly, no significant changes have been made to hitting as SDS said that hitting remains “largely unchanged.”

Feature Premieres

The main pipeline for MLB The Show 24 reveals directly from SDS will be the Feature Premieres. The pre-release ritual features pre-recorded videos detailing the newest features of the game. We’ll link each one as they’re released for easy viewing:

About the Guest Author

Cory Dell

Cory has been writing about all things baseball and gaming since 2022 and has written for Operation Sports and cited in Forbes. Baseball, video games and music have dominated his interests and Cory recently launched his own website, Cathartic Scribe, as his personal destination for thoughts beyond his featured writing. Cory also founded Cargocastle, a one-man music project, that can be streamed on all major streaming platforms as well as Soundcloud and Bandcamp.

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