Review Fix Exclusive: Inside Out of The Park Baseball 2019

Review Fix chats with Richard Grisham, Chief Marketing Officer, Out of the Park Developments about what makes Out of The Park Baseball 2019 a special game. Detailing the dev cycle and more, Let’s ya know exactly why it’s different from its predecessors as well.

About Out of the Park Developments 
Out of the Park Developments is the developer of the award-winning OOTP and MLB Manager series of baseball management simulations, Franchise Hockey Manager, and Beyond the Sideline Football. German-based OOTP Developments was founded by Markus Heinsohn and Andreas Raht in 1999. OOTP Developments has consistently produced games that have met with critical acclaim, including winning Metacritic’s coveted “PC Game of the Year” for the 2016 version of OOTP and “Game of the Year” for the 2007 edition of OOTP, which remains the second highest-rated PC game on Metacritic of all time. Further information on the company and its games is available from the OOTP Developments website, http://www.ootpdevelopments.com

Review Fix: How was the reception to last year’s game and how did it influence this one?

Richard Grisham: We were delighted with the reception to last year’s game from fans and critics. Introducing players on the field for the first time, even in their ‘chess pawn’ form, was a big hit. So big, it made it easy for us to make even more improvements to the visuals this year. We’re really excited about how the even bigger and better visuals will be received by fans this season in OOTP 19.

Review Fix: What was the development cycle like?

Grisham: Long and complex! As the game has grown, its internal systems rely on each other more than ever. We have to be extremely careful to make sure we manage everything properly, especially now that we’ve added so much new visual prowess to the game.

Review Fix: What did you guys learn?

Grisham: That visuals are vital! Our fans have loved the engine and strategy for years, but as livestreaming has grown immensely popular, the visual aspect of the game has gotten much, much more important. That’s the biggest lesson.

Review Fix: What’s your favorite gameplay improvement in this year’s game?

Grisham: The new 3D stadiums and animated players are, in a word, amazing. To me, it changes everything about OOTP, giving it new appeal to more people than ever. The new in-game screens are so much better than anything we’ve ever done before, it’s spectacular.

Review Fix: How do you think OOTP 19 it stands apart from its predecessors?

Grisham: Other than the visuals – which is the biggest change – the ability to create standalone tournaments with any teams ever is my personal favorite. This isn’t something we’ve had before, at least not in this manner that makes it really easy. I love a good tournament, and baseball is the perfect sport for what-if scenarios!

Review Fix: What’s next?

Grisham: We’re introducing a new, free, online-only mode called Perfect Team later this season. It has the potential to be a game-changer for us, introducing new ways for our fans to play and compete against each other.

Review Fix: Anything you’d like to add?

Grisham: Just that our fans are amazing, and we are so proud of the great OOTP community that’s been created over two decades. It’s an honor to serve our fans and the greatest sport in the world – baseball!

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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