[This press release is made available courtesy of OOTP Developments with modifications.] 

From the front office to the field, baseball has changed dramatically over the past few years – and nothing has kept up with the modern game like Out of the Park Baseball. Whether you love today’s world of exit velocity and launch angles or pine for the ‘good old days’ of complete games and ‘small ball’, everything you could possibly want in a baseball strategy game is waiting for you in Out of the Park Baseball 20.

No matter how you like to play, we’ve got something for you in Out of the Park Baseball 20. Take the reins of your favorite club on your own in the 2019 season (or any season in history), compete with and against friends in an online league, battle players around the world each week in our Perfect Team mode, create your own completely customized universe, or try any of the other dozens of options. Out of the Park Baseball 20 is the culmination of 20 years of building the best sports strategy gaming experience possible.

Here’s what you’ll get in OOTP 20:

Integrated live services all season long!

For the first time ever, OOTP features Live Services for MLB rosters! You can start a new MLB game any day during the regular season and Postseason with up-to-date rosters, standings, stats and player ratings, or to update player ratings in your current game based on their current performances. Can you keep your favorite team’s hot start going throughout the season, or take control to turn around a disappointing start?

Our brand new 2019 roster sets include all projected Opening Day MLB rosters as well as the complete minor league system down to rookie leagues, including independent leagues.

All Major League (and over a thousand minor league) player ratings are based on Dan Szymborski’s popular ZiPS player projection system. The remaining minor league players are carefully rated by hand by our recently upgraded research team. Listen here to one of our OOTP Now Podcast episodes as the newest member of our roster squad explains how this is done.

In addition, OOTP 20 features 12 international leagues (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Italy, The Netherlands, Mexico and Cuba, plus 4 brand new leagues with Germany, France, Spain and the Czech Republic) and several US and international independent leagues. All of the teams have accurate and projected 2019 rosters.

Improved 3D Animations

We hit the motion capture studio for the first time ever to create hundreds of new animations which take the 3D in-game action to a whole new level. Diving plays, shoestring catches, hitters celebrating a walk-off in style: it’s all there (except for a fancy bat flip creation feature – sorry about that)!

Improved AI, Game Engine and Modern Strategic Options

Baseball is constantly evolving, as is our award-winning simulation engine. This year we have introduced several new strategic options, such as an opener and a follower as MLB teams continue to seek every possible advantage to winning in 2019. We have also improved the simulation engine and AI to handle and counter these new options and also make the smartest strategic decisions possible at any time during the game.

But that’s only the start! We’ve improved all AI-related aspects of the game, including trading, contract logic, general roster building, and player evaluation, which lies at the core of the entire OOTP AI, resulting in the most challenging and rewarding gameplay ever in OOTP 20.

Perfect Team Mode 2.0

Perfect Team was a massive success after we introduced the revolutionary online competition mode for OOTP 19 in November of last year. Over 12,000 total teams have competed in the exciting universe of Perfect Team, over 5,000,000 player cards have been pulled, history was written, and countless epic moments were created.

For OOTP 20, Perfect Team mode will return with more cards (over 3,200 total) and more features, including exciting tournaments (coming in April), collection missions (coming April / May), an improved auction house, more achievements, an additional league level (6 in total) and all the new strategy and AI improvements of the core game. Build your very own Perfect Team and battle the best OOTP managers in the world!

Out of the Park Baseball 20 includes:

• All new Spray Charts for players
• Improved historical league player ratings and simulation accuracy
• All new tiebreaker calculations
• Added support to have players in lineup backup other positions, and substitute in starting lineups for them
• Teams can participate in multiple tournaments at the same time

The post OOTP 20 to include new in-game 3D experience, strategies, AI and 2019 rosters appeared first on GM Games - Sports General Manager Video Games.

[This press release is made available courtesy of OOTP Developments with slight modifications.] 

“We are delighted and honored to partner with Electronic Arts to distribute our baseball game directly to  EA’s biggest fans,” said OOTP Developments CEO and lead developer Markus Heinsohn. “EA’s long history of sports excellence makes Origin a tremendous platform. A whole new audience will now experience the delights and agonies of running a baseball franchise across the majors and minors, from today or throughout the entire history of the sport.”

OOTP 19 unveils a new 3D in-game engine that, for the first time, has players pitching, hitting, fielding, and running the bases in Out of the Park Baseball.

Out of the Park Baseball 19 includes:

• New 3D stadiums and player models with improved on-field movements, including running, sliding, jumping, and throwing.
• New in-game screen design for an optimized virtual dugout.
• 2018 roster sets with all Opening Day MLB rosters, as well as the complete minor league system from Triple-A to rookie leagues as well as the Arizona Fall League. All major league (and over a thousand minor league) player ratings will be based on the popular ZiPS player projection system. The 8 international leagues, as well as independent minor leagues in the US, also return this year with accurate rosters.
• Rewritten scouting reports that give a more detailed and realistic look at players.
• New tournament modes! Create a standalone tournament bracket and draw any teams in history into it. The possibilities are endless!
• Ultra-realistic AI roster management and in-game decisions.
• A reworked ratings module.
• User voting for end-of-season awards

• Many more improvements, including:

• Redesigned interface, with the ability to choose between 6 different fonts

• 800 custom team logos for fictional leagues

• Improved Manager Home screen, with a more customizable layout and new widget options

• A new stat — RA9-WAR (WAR based on runs allowed) — for pitchers

• Delayed substitutions for injured players

The post OOTP 19 partners with EA and will include brand new 3D engine appeared first on GM Games - Sports General Manager Video Games.