MLB The Show 22 is just a few weeks away, and new reports about the title's development have raised interesting questions about March to October and Franchise Mode.
From fan concerns about the stagnant growth of Franchise Mode to recent dev comments suggesting these changes may be capped by legacy code, the classic game mode's future is uncertain.
With the latest news in mind, we're looking closer at whether March to October (MTO) could end up replacing Franchise Mode after MLB The Show 22.
March to October may be the replacement for Franchise Mode
MLB The Show 22 is steadily approaching launch at the beginning of next month, and we're consistently learning more about this year's game with each weekly Feature Premiere.
Heading into the build towards release, Franchise Mode was initially absent from their Feature Premiere schedule before being quietly added to the agenda for the same day that March to October would be spotlighted.
While there were clues in the details just revealed about March to October, the biggest sign may actually be from a report earlier this week focused on how Sony was "scared" of reactions to Franchise.
The report by Michael Straw of SGO, which we looked at in-depth here, outlined a lack of Franchise updates and revealed that some of the struggles actually have to do with the way Franchise Mode is currently built.
According to the report, MLB The Show 22 is still using a Franchise built on "legacy code," meaning it takes much longer and more resources to actually improve.
While Sony San Diego may not be willing to say it right now for fears of how the community might react, as March to October is not always a fan favorite, this all could be pointing to one massive change.
MTO gets several Franchise features in MLB The Show 22
If Franchise Mode is indeed built on "legacy code" in way that makes it unwieldy for Sony San Diego to work on in their modern era of development, they've got to have a long-term plan for remedying that issue.
That's where March to October comes in, and the biggest of the new features just revealed about the mode is that it will now span multiple seasons.
In the past, March to October had operated exclusively as a single season where you could then transfer your MTO save into Franchise.
That remains this year, but they've added the ability to play multiple consecutive seasons (potentially an unlimited amount, something they didn't clarify) in March to October without having to make the move to Franchise Mode.
March to October also added a plethora of new features such as offseason options, upgrades for handling of free agency and trades, but it was a customization detail that stood out.
They've added team customization for March to October, including team name, access to the logo vault, and stadium selection, but noted that it was a next gen exclusive, something that may be linked to the way the new March to October code was written compared to the "legacy code" in Franchise.
March to October is feeling more and more like traditional Franchise, and that could be a huge clue as to what their endgame is for everything.
Franchise could be rebuilt from the ground up with MTO's foundation
While at this point we are left to speculate based on the tiny bits of information that have been made available, their larger plan may include actually using the foundation of March to October to rebuild Franchise Mode from the ground up.
Fans who despite March to October and adore Franchise Mode are probably fuming at the mere notion that this kind of replacement could happen, but it's a process that may actually work out in the end.
With the way new features are finding their way into the March to October experience, it's getting more and more feasible for developers to take the basis of that game mode and adapt it to a completely rebuilt Franchise Mode.
The downfall is that this may end up losing features in the short term, but that will depend on the timeline of this process and whether the rebuilt Franchise is on deck for MLB The Show 23 or even later.
However, in the long term, March to October is looking like it has the potential to actually serve as that cornerstone to let Sony San Diego give Franchise Mode the proper rebuild it's needed for years with brand new code.