It’s coming again. Out Of The Park Baseball. Are you hyped? Because I’m hyped. Oh, sure, they didn’t pick any of my suggestions for their tagline, but the one they did pick is pretty good. And, what’s more, OOTP 2016 is coming and it already is looking like a big leap over even the improvements that OOTP 2015 brought.

Because, for the first time in quite awhile (if ever), it’ll be officially licensed. Yes, Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball are officially licensing the latest OOTP games, due out in March. That means that instead of having to import logos and stadiums, etc, it’ll all come pre-packaged (although, of course, we’ll still be able to make our own if we want). What’s more, it definitely gives OOTP more clout and officialness- in fact, it’s mobile version will be renamed “MLB Manager”. That will expand it’s reach to more people, bringing OOTP head Markus Heinsohn one step closer to world domination.

Some other things I’m excited for:

• More leagues! They are adding the Australian League and Independent Leagues in both America and Japan! I love the global scope of OOTP and glad to see it’s default settings continue to grow.
• Team Owners are more realistic: apparently now instead of simple “win now” or “win later” things, the owners will have both long-term and short-term goals and from the look of what the press release says they might not always make sense (for example, signing a star to a long contract, which as we’ve seen in the real world can be a total disaster).
• Better finance and coaching systems. They are, of course, completely separate from each other, but I’m combing them because I’m looking forward to seeing more about them. The finance system apparently will be much bigger and involve season ticket sales, etc, while the personnel and coaches will now have personalities and the like. I’m interested.
• Changes to team strategies, playoff news coverage and the 3D modelling. I’m especially looking forward to the last of these- OOTP 15’s modelling was a good first step but definitely had room for improvement. Fingers crossed it delivers! That fact that they’ve confirmed they will have the 30 MLB stadiums in from the start makes me very optimistic.
• Little things like rainout rescheduling, different currencies (Yen, Pesos, Euros, etc.), improved HoF and All-Star Voting, etc. etc.

I, of course, will write more about the latest OOTP as more info becomes available.

Note: While I received no compensation for writing this preview, in the past I have received complimentary copies of “Out of The Park Baseball” from it’s developers.