MLB 14: The Show Losing Online Support in June

With MLB 15: The Show coming to the PlayStation family in mere days, baseball fans around the world are getting their last at-bats in the current game before being called up to the next level. They may want to think about splitting their time, as Sony has announced that online features for MLB 14: The Show will be shut off as soon as June, GameSpot reports.

The PlayStation Online Support forums hosts a continually updating thread of games where online functionality has been turned off, and the latest update added all three versions of MLB 14 to the list effective June 18. This puts a hard deadline on players who may have been waiting to upgrade to MLB 15, especially those who prefer the game's robust online offerings.

Far be it from us to tell a big game company like Sony how to handle their business, but doesn't June of the following year seem a bit soon to be turning off a game's online capabilities? We understand that Sony wants player focus to shift to the next game, but there are bound to be plenty of baseball fans who don't upgrade right away for whatever reason they choose, and by pulling the plug so fast those players are basically ignored for the new adopters — despite their yearly sports offerings, you don't see 2K Sports doing this.

Not to get all "walk to school uphill both ways in the snow" here, but there was a time where sports games were given a much longer online shelf life than 14 months. In fact, over on a similar thread on EA's forums, you'll note that even though Madden 15 is out now, Madden NFL 13's online functionality is still kicking, nowhere to be found on the "online shutdown" list. Why kill MLB 14 so soon, Sony? Why not let those players have a bit more time?

Whether you're upgrading or not, MLB 15: The Show launches March 31 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita. Make sure you enjoy its online functionality as much as you can over the next 14 months.