MLB 12: The Show Patch Support Tracking Well Behind Past Years

Now into April with the baseball season fully underway many consumers have begun to ask why the first patch for MLB 12: The Show has yet to arrive. It’s an understandable question considering the rate at which patches have been delivered for The Show in recent years. SCEA has yet to comment on plans for post-release support and have been careful to avoid even stating that a patch is being worked on. There shouldn’t be reason for concern at this stage however. Undoubtedly one is in the pipeline but when it will materialize and what it will entail remain as big unknowns. 

The explanation for not having a patch by now may be simple though speculative in nature – there was nothing that needed to be addressed in urgent fashion. SCEA is likely consolidating the work into a single comprehensive update rather than a quick one followed by another a month or two later. The Vita factor also looms large here as changes to one must be instituted in the other at the very same time because of the feature that allows Franchise and Road to the Show save files to be transferred between the two.

MLB 11 received its first patch on March 22 and second on April 25 while MLB 10 got its first on March 17 and second on May 18. That historically the games have gotten their first patch after just about two weeks is why many are taking note that one has not come for MLB 12 yet.

With MLB 11 the biggest early problems had to do with free agency in Franchise mode. MLB 10 suffered from several problems in Franchise and intentional walks freezing online games. The quick turnarounds from release to first feedback-based patch are possible because Sony can push their own product to the front of the certification line.

Based on info I’ve received sales for MLB 12 are down fairly significantly vs MLB11 (which itself was down big from the sales peak year with MLB 10). That probably isn’t much of a factor when it comes to the support but it could provide more reason just to work towards a single update – a cheaper proposition – that will affect both the PS3 and the Vita versions.

Though there are no pressing issues there are certainly ways in which MLB 12 can be improved – game start times in Franchise mode need to be fixed and there’s an issue with lack of hitting success even when perfect timing/perfect placement as a couple examples – but otherwise the game is in good shape. By now it’s clear that the company won’t be able to make online performance any better so there’s no point in holding out hope for that.

It’s worth noting that MLB 09 had a similar problem with start times and scheduling. That was eventually fixed in a patch that came out on May 1 but also forced the restart of any Franchise or Road to the Show in progress. As SCEA hasn’t commented on patch plans it’s unknown if the same would be required with MLB 12.