EA Sports is Working on a Baseball Game — Probably for Facebook

EA Sports, whose beloved MVP Baseball series went into exile when 2K Sports won an exclusive contract back in 2005, is all yono app working on a Major League Baseball-licensed property, according to ESPN’s Jon Robinson. Before you get all giddy, a close reading of contracts leaves the impression this will be another Facebook game.(new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c&cid=872d12ce-453b-4870-845f-955919887e1b'; cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c" }).render("79703296e5134c75a2db6e1b64762017"); }); Robinson points out that the exclusive deal between 2K and MLB covers “simulation, arcade and manager-style games,” on consoles, the PC yono all rummy and handhelds (as a third-party publisher. Sony’s MLB The Show is allowed, as it is made by the console maker itself). It doesn’t say squat about online games playable through a web browser, which is how Sega’s MLB Manager Online, which launched this month, does bidness as a free-to-play online strategy sim (and also Quick Hit Football, licensed by the NFL despite its all-platform exclusive with Madden NFL). https://kotaku.com/major-league-baseball-management-sim-goes-live-in-march-5714415 EA Sports and Playfish, the Facebook games developer bought by Electronic Arts, brought us Madden NFL Superstars and FIFA Superstars last year, and EA Sports’ On-Demand division delivered PGA Tour Golf Challenge on Facebook earlier this year. There’s tremendous appetite for this within EA Sports, and as baseball is a no-brainer for a card-style management sim, that’s probably what this is. https://kotaku.com/madden-nfl-superstars-launches-on-facebook-5626677 That said, next year is the last in the deal between 2K and MLB, and the CEO of 2K parent Take-Two Interactive has rather publicly bemoaned the unprofitability of that deal. Major League Baseball itself may find no takers for an exclusive third-party license in an economy much worse than what publishers faced in 2005. I’d say it’s a matter yono all app of when, not if, that EA Sports gets back in the batter’s box. EA Sports jumping back into baseball? [ESPN]