Cross-Platform Online Leagues coming to Super Mega Baseball 3

Among the best sports games of 2020 is Super Mega Baseball 3 and it’s about to get a new feature with immense potential. A free update on September 29 will introduce Online Leagues which notably can involve users from all different platforms. That means it won’t matter whether someone owns the game on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch or PC as everyone will be able to play together in a league.

Online Leagues

By far the biggest new addition to the game is Online Leagues, the mode we formerly referred to as Custom Pennant Race. Online Leagues is a game changer for how we play SMB3 with friends and is available in both the demo/trial versions and the full game.

For owners of the full game, you can form a league and invite up to 31 other people on any of the platforms to join you. Game length, season duration, DH rule, Ego, and more can be configured to create as casual or competitive of a league as you choose. Alternatively, you can create a league with default settings that allows demo or trial users to play in your Online League for free – this is a great way to finally convince those stubborn friends to give SMB3 a try!

Watch Mode

Another new feature coming in Update 4 is a completely revamped Watch Mode for spectating AI vs. AI games. Watch Mode allows you to control the camera direction and zoom while watching the game from dozens of new camera angles. This will give you a more immersive experience while you watch two CPU-controlled teams battle it out in those important Season or Franchise games.

Pennant Race Ego & Rating Adjustments

As for existing modes, Pennant Race is receiving some important updates as well. We have adjusted how your Ego is assigned in Pennant Race to improve run-scoring rates, particularly for our highest rated players.

Many of you reported having a lot of difficulty scoring runs at the higher Ego levels, resulting in many long, scoreless extra-inning games. Our data confirms that runs could be very hard to come by, especially at Ego levels in the 80s or 90s. When Update 4 launches, expect to have your assigned Ego adjusted, which you can now see in the Pennant Race Hub. It will now be much harder to ever reach Ego 90 or above.

You will also notice that your Rating will have gone down due in part to this change. However, your relative ranking among the Pennant Race population will remain the same – if your Rating was higher than your friend’s Rating before the update, then that will remain true after the update.

In addition, your Ego may change more from game to game in your first several matches after the update. This is to allow the updated system to gauge the right Ego more quickly for you. Should you play well during this period, your Rating should also quickly climb to or above your previous Rating.

Other Updates

Update 4 includes several other key improvements and bug fixes. Many of these changes are thanks to you, the community, for suggesting or bringing them to our attention.

We have fixed a few bugs around base stealing in online play that resulted in a “steal spamming” exploit where runners could too quickly return to their base safely after starting a steal attempt.

Deflected balls off missed catches will now travel more in the ball’s current direction, rather than shooting off at a sharp angle from the diving fielder’s glove.

Items such as post game season stats and previous game pitch counts that are shown in Season mode are now correctly shown in Franchise mode too.

In addition, we have made further adjustments to changes made in previous updates, including more improvements to AI bullpen usage, having pitchers drop even more comebackers, and better AI throwing decisions when throwing balls in from the outfield.

We also fixed a bug in Pennant Race where you could be unintentionally locked into the same team for the next race without being given an opportunity to pick a new team.