Konami Digital Entertainment and the USA’s Major League Baseball (MLB) have announced that they have entered into a global partnership agreement, centering on the licensed mobile game eBaseball: MLB PRO SPIRIT, which launched last October (Source: MLB press release/PR Times).
Konami has been making baseball games for over 30 years, however most of these titles have targeted the Japanese market. Just last July, they released Powerful Pro Baseball 2024-2025, a Japanese language-only cartoon-style baseball game on PS4 and Nintendo Switch. Konami appointed LA Dodgers player Shohei Ohtani as its baseball game ambassador and prominently featured the highly popular athlete on promotional material, even releasing a special edition of the physical game with a Shohei Ohtani slipcase. In October, they released a second baseball game, the realistic-looking Professional Baseball Spirits 2024-2025, but this is also only available in Japanese on PC and PS5.
In contrast, eBaseball: MLB PRO SPIRIT is a FTP game playable on Android and iOS in English, Japanese, Spanish, and Traditional Chinese, already meaning that it has a greater reach than past Konami baseball games. Konami’s global marketing for the title includes digital and social media spots featuring Baltimore Orioles All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman and San Diego Padres All-Star outfielder Jackson Merrill.
Speaking about the partnership, MLB Deputy Commissioner of Business and Media Noah Garden said, “Konami has been innovating video games for nearly half a century and entertaining sports fans with their unique offerings for decades, but with this highly integrated partnership we can help take eBaseball: MLB PRO SPIRIT to another level and deliver a truly outstanding experience for fans. (…) We look forward to collaborating throughout the season to promote this fun, new game and highlight our many talented players around the world.”
Konami’s Hideki Hayakawa added that “For over 30 years, we have provided entertaining and immersive baseball video game experiences in Japan and are happy to partner with the league to share those experiences with a greater audience.”
eBaseball: MLB PRO SPIRIT is available now on Android and iOS. It is free to play with in-app purchases.
