The Show Finally Has Reasonable Load Times with MLB 15

Extensive loading times have always plagued the MLB: The Show franchise. Expectation last year on PS4 was for that to become a non-issue with the move to more powerful hardware. Unfortunately not only did loading times not improve but they worsened significantly.

Shortened loading times were promised though with MLB 15: The Show and the game has undoutedly delivered on that. Thankfully it’s now comparable to all the other sports franchises and when combined with the new Suspend/Resume feature The Show as a whole is much more pleasant to fire up and play than ever before. 

The initial boot sequence to get to the main menu takes 54 seconds. That’s 27 seconds faster than MLB 14. Where it will have the most impact though is with loading into games.

In MLB 15 it takes approximately 31 seconds from selecting to start the game to when the user can have control over the pitcher or the first batter. That’s a reduction of 40 seconds per game from MLB 14! That will really add up over the life of the product.

The lengthy loading sequences in The Show had damaged the experience even more for modes where users might only spend a couple minutes playing before bouncing back to the menu and possibly starting another game.

In Road to the Show it now takes 32 seconds as opposed to 45 seconds with MLB 14. So it’s not a huge difference there but every little bit counts. Community Challenges take about the same time as the other modes but compare that to MLB 14 which required an astonishing 82 seconds for each one. People will save nearly a minute every time they load into a challenge!

MLB 15: The Show still won’t be the fastest loading sports game on the market but the series has finally achieved reasonable loading times. It’s a dramatic difference and the benefits are realized throughout the entirety of the game.