In May 1999, Sean Lahman, a journalist and author, introducedOut Of The Park Baseballon his official website, gaining the attention of many gaming websites. The game debuted on PC for Windows 98, and as the years went on, each new installment gained traction in terms of popularity. By 2002, a developer by the name of Markus Heinsohn joined the team and helped create .400 Software Studios, which served to further evolve the game. Three years later,Out Of The Park Baseballwas purchased by Sports Interactive, a company responsible for gaming entities such asFootball ManagerandNHL Eastside Hockey Manager.
Out Of The Park 23is the 24th edition of the game’s franchise, released on June 10, 2025. The text-based, managerial-style baseball game provides gamers with a broad style of entering a team’s organization at any capacity and growing within it. The game has licenses with bothMajor League Baseballand Minor League Baseball, allowing for all the well-known clubs and leagues that baseball fans are familiar with.
The overall game introduces players to a different kind of experience from traditional baseball games. WhileMLB The Show 22allows players to get behind a player’s career and build them up through statistical boosts and winning games,Out Of The Park Baseball 23takes an analytical approach. It isn’t for everyone, but for players who appreciate the numbers side of baseball, this may be the best experience available.
The best way to play for gamers who prefer to remain offline is by taking on the career of an up-and-coming staff member. Players will enter the world of baseball and are immediately bombarded with an abundance of emails from various teams and different leagues across the globe. Each of them has an offer for the player, anywhere from becoming a batting coach to a scout.
Once the player selects the desired position and team, they are immediately thrust into the world of baseball and jump right into the action. Depending on the role players choose, they are met with goals and objectives and a timeframe of when they’re required to complete them. There is so much to take in, but luckily for newcomers to the franchise,Out Of The Park Baseball 23has a tutorial mode for the first time in the game’s existence.
The game also has an online mode for players interested in the idea of collecting player items and building a roster around them. Much likeMLB The Show 22’s Diamond Dynasty, players can buy or earn in-game currency and purchase packs containing players and items to improve their team. The mode can become somewhat pay-to-play for players looking to quickly improve their team, creating a predatory mentality of capitalizing on those who have a habit of spending money carelessly. From there, players take complete control of their teams, from their bullpen rotation to which batters are the most dependable during the late stages of a game. It’s a unique spin on the usual online mode players are used to seeing, as the control and strategy that goes into building a roster and creating each game’s lineup can become very analytical.
From a data collection standpoint, there is no better experience thanOut Of The Park Baseball 23. The amount of attention and detail that went into creating the game is astounding and deserving of the praise it received online. For newcomers and regulars to the sport, it serves as a wonderful introduction to advanced analytics and what goes into evaluating each player and team. Players can engage in the world of MLB or take their professional journeys to leagues spanning across the entire globe, from Mexico to Japan, in what is recognized asone of the best baseball experiences in gaming.
Out Of The Park Baseball 23is an excellent predecessor to last year’s installment and only builds upon the strengths of the past version, adding more depth and volume. This year’s version introduces new animations, new simming options on a brand-new sim engine, more tools, and additions to everyday life events. As mentioned,Out Of The Park Baseball 23introduces a tutorial on each mode and style of play, something that has never been done before. Players entering the franchise for the first time and those returning after a long hiatus can now learn the engine and have a better understanding of what they’re doing before taking the leap and becoming submerged in the analytics and flow of baseball.
Where the game falters is in its coding, specifically with the number of bugs found directly after launch. Before the developers deployed the game’s updates,Out Of The Park Baseball 23was almost unplayable, with constant crashing while entering into a live game or attempting to establish a start to the career mode. The online functionality was not available at the time, much to the dismay of the public anticipating this feature, and some of the in-game modes featured inexplicable instances of freezing and disruptions. Thankfully, the online feature, known as “The Perfect Team,” is now fully functional and provides players with an array of improved mechanics and abilities to scout and improve players statistics during a complete season.
The absence of music while in the menu can be quite jarring, especially when in-game sounds and background effects kick in once players jump into a baseball game. Perhaps a round or two of testing by developers, or something similar to theMLB The Show 22tech test, could have prevented some ongoing issues currently found in the game. Players who keep an eye on the in-game progress of their team have noted that there are several occasions where players freeze up instead of making routine plays or, in some cases, run right through walls. Thankfully, the developers have patched up most of the issues, but a few remain in the game that prevent players from making long-term progress while in career mode. In some cases,Out Of The Park Baseball 23has frozen without reason, forcing players to reset and lose all progress made.
For all baseball fans who possess a love for everything analytics and full control of a baseball organization,Out Of The Park Baseball 23is a can’t-miss opportunity. For the price of admission, there isn’t anything else like it on the market, and it will be a hard one to follow up in future installments. In the world of sports simulation,Out Of The Park Baseball 23is a near-perfect rendition, and a promising sign of what the future could hold for this design of play.
MLB The Show 22is available on PC. Game Rant was provided a Steam code for this review.
