With MLB The Show 22 around the corner, some fans are understandably keeping an eye on arcade competitor RBI Baseball 22.
Unfortunately, it looks like the first franchise to include actual MLB player names has officially come to an end for the second time.
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Canceled RBI Baseball 22, the series ends when MLB The Show 22 arrives on Nintendo Switch
MLB The Show 22 is set to once again set the standard for baseball games with another highly publicized version, but in the past they weren’t the only baseball simulation available.
Last year, RBI Baseball 21 was released worldwide just a month before the launch of MLB The Show 21, and even this smaller delivery has had some value.
We took a closer look in our RBI Baseball 21 Review of the game’s release on the Nintendo Switch and the streamlined arcade style was definitely fun to try.
Home Run Derby was where the game shone the most, simplifying a classic game mode on the Nintendo Switch at a time when MLB The Show was not yet on the console.
Sadly, it looks like last year’s release will be the last of this legendary franchise, as the game silently disappeared from the windows before a Twitter DM from their official game account confirmed the news.
Ad click to enlarge RIP RBI: Franchise has officially come to an end once again As seen in the message above, a player contacted RBI Baseball’s verified account to inquire about the title and learned that RBI Baseball 22 will not take place at all .
Instead, they directed fans to MLB The Show 22 with a link to The Show’s website and details on the platforms and release date for the game’s next installment.
A big piece of the puzzle here is probably the fact that MLB The Show 22 will be coming to the Nintendo Switch for the first time, as one of the biggest things RBI Baseball 22 had in store was being the only baseball simulation on that platform.
The cancellation of RBI Baseball 22 marks the end of a franchise that began in 1987
If you were thinking this might just be a sign of the series’ delay, the extra nail in RBI Baseball’s coffin is that the title has been removed from all showcases.
Although the message seen above states that players who “currently own any game within the RBI franchise” can continue to enjoy it, it is now not available for purchase or download.
We can confirm that even if you actively own a copy of RBI Baseball 21 on the Nintendo Switch, the only way you could continue playing it is if the title has already been downloaded to your console.
If you have deleted it at any time to free up space, it is no longer possible to log into the game on Nintendo eShop and re-download the files to continue playing.
Although still visible on Microsoft’s website, the game is no longer available for purchase and is unlikely to be downloadable on any platform yet.
It’s a woefully silent final chapter for a game that kicked things off on Nintendo VS. System in arcades in 1987 before making its console debut on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1988.
While it wasn’t the first baseball video game ever made and didn’t have an MLB license to include team names, it was the first to be licensed by the MLB Players Association and include the names of actual MLB players.
After a few strong years on Sega platforms, RBI Baseball saw its first series end in 1995, but was picked up by MLB Advanced Media in 2014 to serve as an arcade-style baseball simulation alternative to competing MLB The Show.
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