Ever since the retro-style R.B.I. Baseball series returned in 2014, it has benefitted from being the only MLB game in town for multiple platforms. This year, however, that changes, as the critically acclaimed, longtime PlayStation-exclusive series, MLB The Show, is finally making the jump to Xbox consoles for the first time. With added competition, R.B.I. Baseball 21, hopes to double down on the pick-up-and-play sensibilities of its title while expanding the feature set of its on-and-off-the-field suite.
Developer and publisher Major League Baseball Advanced Media has released a first look at gameplay. This year’s title features more customization through the Create-a-Player mode, as well as additional options so you can choose the batting controls and camera angles you want. This year also adds industry-standard features like play-by-play commentary and Statcast data for pitchers for the first time in series history.
R.B.I. Baseball 21 features Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson on the cover. The soundtrack includes music from artists like All Time Low, Diplo, Justin Bieber, Cold War Kids, The Chainsmokers, and more. If you want to listen to the soundtrack ahead of time, the developer has put together a Spotify playlist with all the songs here.
You can catch the short glimpse of gameplay below.
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R.B.I. Baseball 21 comes to Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, and mobile devices on March 16. While we haven’t gotten our hands on this year’s edition, we’ve been largely underwhelmed by the series’ offerings since it made its return in 2014. You can read our review of R.B.I. Baseball 19 here.
