For a second consecutive year,MLB The Show 22will be available on Xbox Game Pass, only this time it’s a featured day one release. Last year,MLB The Show 21became playable for all Xbox users, moving away from its PlayStation exclusivity from previous years.
This year’s installment comes with a few advantages, one being thatMLB The Show 22will be purchasable upon the official launch on April 5. The other is an offer for Game Pass members to pick up the game while in its early access stage at a reduced price compared to purchasing the game at full cost.
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While the game will be free as of April 5,Xbox users have the option to pay $49.99to get the game four days earlier, and it will be accessible on both Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S versions. The offer does have its perks, mostly revolving around the in-game content that players can collect. BuyingMLB The Show 22earlier allows players to jump into the game a full 96 hours ahead of everyone else, but it also grants every player two Gold Choice Packs, ten Show Packs, one Ballplayer Pack, along with Double Daily login rewards and 10k Stubs. For those who enjoy The Show’s online modes and collecting items, the additional content is a must-have for early-game progression.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise to Game Pass users, as Microsoft has tested this idea once before withForza Horizon 5. In October 2021, the developer released the game to its player base four days ahead of schedule as part of an early access promotion. Much likeMLB The Show 22, purchasing the game at a reduced cost came with a bundle of in-game content, including a Welcome Pack, Car Pass, VIP Membership, and two game expansions, which were not available at the time but scheduled for launch at a later date.Forza Horizon 5became a massive success, and the early access edition was praised by Game Pass users at the time.
One area of concern, however, is the fact that games released on Xbox Game Pass are only available for free to users, as long as the title remains on the service. Users might be able to breathe easier knowing that last year’s edition remained on Game Pass all year, and it might be the case this time around as well.MLB The Show 22is less than one week from its official launch, which will also beavailable on the Nintendo Switchfor the first time, and is setting up to be a game baseball fans won’t want to miss. For online-mode players, the early access bundle could be worth paying a little extra, especially with the extra playing time.
MLB The Show 22releases on April 5 for PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
