MLB The Show 21 Sales Topped All Video Games in April, Set Franchise High
San Diego Studio’s MLB The Show 21 sales hit the top of the charts for April, as the newest installment in the baseball simulation franchise took out the previous chart leader. The Show made a triumphant return to the scene with new features updates, but also as the first version available on Xbox platforms. In addition, it was the first edition of MLB The Show available for next-generation consoles.
MLB The Show 21 sales chart topper for April
On Thursday, May 27, Mat Piscatella of The NPD Group tweeted out the latest charts for video games sold in the United States in April 2021. The MLB The Show 21 sales took the No. 1 spot, pushing previous chart-topper Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War down to second place.
Coming in third was another new title, Nintendo’s New Pokemon Snap. The top five was rounded out by two Square Enix titles as Outrides moved down from third to fourth, and the new title NieR: Replicant took fifth.
Check out the April 2021 top 20 sellers chart in the tweet below which is based on all platforms.
In a series of tweets along with the chart data, Mat Piscatella gave more details regarding MLB The Show 21 sales. The Show 21 was the best-selling game on Sony’s PlayStation platforms and second on the Xbox.
As mentioned, this year’s game marked the first edition from San Diego Studios available to play on Microsoft’s current-gen Xbox One and the next-gen Series X/S consoles.
Last month’s launch in dollar sales also set a new franchise high for the San Diego Studio game published by Sony. Adding to the impressiveness of The Show’s recent launch, it grabbed the No. 3 spot for 2021 year-to-date sales. There are still plenty of months to go, but it’s still quite a feat upon release!
Reviews favorable for PlayStation, Xbox consoles
While games like The Show and other sports titles often top bestsellers lists, that’s not always an indicator they’re well-received amongst gamers. However, MLB The Show 21 has generally received favorable reviews for both the Xbox and PlayStation platforms.
For current-gen, the game currently holds a 79 overall score out of 100 for Sony’s PlayStation 4, per Metacritic. The aggregate review site has yet to display an Xbox One score due to a lack of reviews to collect a score from. However, the game was released on Xbox Game Pass for gamers. More about that in the video below.
Meanwhile, the next-gen Xbox Series X/S has an 81 overall score for the new game. Users have given it a 7.1 out of 10 based on over 100 reviews left on the site. Among positive reviews for the next-gen Xbox edition of the game are MondoXbox, Xbox Tavern, and Game Informer, who rated the game 85 out of 100.
Meanwhile, Sony’s PS5 ranks a bit below with a 78 score and a 4.3 review score from over 130 reviews on Metacritic. That said, it’s the first year for The Show on next-gen and Xbox. Just like a home run into the upper deck from cover star Fernando Tatis, things appear to be looking up for the game as it moves into future installments.
Check out The Show’s recent highlight video clip featuring Oblivion featuring next-gen game footage.
Visit VGR’s MLB page for more of the latest baseball game updates.