Review Fix chats with Out of the Park Baseball 18 Chief Marketing Officer Rich Grisham who discusses the development process and goals for this year’s game, as well as their current Perfect Team Contest.
Out of the Park Baseball 18 will be officially released on March 24, 2017. The follow-up to the acclaimed Metacritic 2016 PC Game of the Year includes several exciting new features and a treasure trove of deep improvements to its award-winning gameplay.
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Review Fix: How has the game evolved over the years?
Rich Grisham: Over the course of 17 seasons, it’s evolved in a way that’s difficult to describe; the game we play today is wholly unrecognizable from the original one. We are official partners with MLB and MLBPA, we’ve got 3D display of in-game action, we have real rosters of every single team – majors, minors, and independents – from over 150 years of baseball history, international teams, online leagues, and that’s just scratching the surface. The funny thing is, in a way, we feel like we’re still just getting started. There is so much more that we want to do to increase the enjoyment factor for our current fans as well as reach new ones around the world.
Review Fix: What has the development cycle been like?
Grisham: We are working all the time. Depending on what time of the year it is, we’re either improving the existing game or building the next one. At this moment (early March) we are in closed beta, fixing the last remaining bugs, and ensuring our Day 1 fans have the best experience possible. Once it’s out in the world, we’ll begin working on items that will be introduced this summer to OOTP 18, then move on to OOTP 19.
Review Fix: Any interesting stories?
Grisham: Lots of them, but perhaps my favorite is when Red Sox Owner John Henry reached out to us to tell us how impressed he was with our game. That blew our minds – the owner of a team raving about how shocked he was at our game’s depth and feature set. No better praise is possible! I also work a lot with minor league team officials who tell me all the time that they use OOTP to see how their players are going to progress, where they may wind up playing, and what their own kids coming up may be able to do. Unbelievable stuff!
Review Fix: What was the thought process behind this year’s perfect team contest?
Grisham: OOTP is all about creating a team, and what better way to represent that with putting a great team of real players on the cover? Our relationship with the MLBPA gives us the ability to really do special things, and this is a great example of that. Even better, it gives our fans a new way to argue with each other (and us!) in a fun way about the best way to build a team, who the best players are, and what’s most important when it comes to being successful.
Review Fix: What else makes this year’s version different?
Grisham: Lots of things, including a new Challenge Mode that lets you compete with and compare your accomplishments with those of your friends and the OOTP community at large. This has been a request for years that we have been able to implement in a way we’re proud of. Something else that’s awesome is the inclusion of the real Negro Leagues from the 30’s and 40’s – being able to experience players like Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, and Satchel Paige in their prime, and even alter history to bring them into the majors or have the Negro League teams battle Major League teams – is a dream come true for a baseball historian like me. You can now watch “highlight reels” of your games, our in-game 3D engine is much better, and we’re also excited about being able to have promotion and relegation of teams from one league to another (also a long-time request from our fans). So much is happening this year!
Review Fix: What’s next?
Grisham: We’re really excited about a new mode that’s being introduced later this year as a free add-on that is something completely different than anything we’ve ever done. I can’t say much about it yet, other than to say it will allow our fans to experience OOTP in a way they never have but will ultimately love.
Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?
Grisham: Thank you to all of our fans! OOTP would not be where it is today – the 2016 Metacritic PC Game of the Year, Licensed by MLB and MLBPA, and getting bigger and better every year – without our amazing community. They are the best and we owe all our success directly to them.
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