Xbox Game Pass is having another strong month Last week, Microsoft's subscription service got a former Nintendo Switch exclusive in the form of Octopath Traveler

On April 20, it will get another big exclusive title from a competing console: MLB The Show 21 MLB The Show, the most popular baseball game on the market, has been a PlayStation exclusive since the PS2 days, but is coming to Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Game Pass

This information comes from the official Xbox Wire blog, where Jamie Reese (interestingly, he works for MLB, not Microsoft) discusses how MLB The Show will debut on the Xbox console

"I am pleased to announce that MLB The Show 21 will be on Xbox Game Pass from day one and will be available for Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One on April 20," he writes

The game will also be streaming on the Android platform through the Xbox Cloud Gaming (beta) app However, there is no PC version, so it appears that MLB The Show is not yet ready to move beyond the confines of consoles On the bright side, your progress will carry over across all of the above platforms

If you don't want to pay $10-15 per month for Microsoft Game Pass, you can purchase the game on its own, but it's not cheap

The regular edition of MLB The Show 21 costs $70 at the Microsoft Store The Jackie Robinson Edition, which comes with several digital extras and a $1 donation to the Jackie Robinson Foundation, is available for $85

There is also a digital deluxe edition, which comes with more in-game accessories, but mostly currency and item packs that you can acquire yourself if you have enough time

The biggest news here is not necessarily that Xbox is getting its long-awaited baseball sim (For what it's worth, "RBI 20 Baseball" on Xbox One wasn't exactly a masterpiece)

Instead, it is that Microsoft has made Xbox Game Pass a desirable platform for exclusive games on competing platforms While "Octopath Traveler" was an interesting stepping stone, "MLB The Show 21" is not by a third-party developer like Square Enix, but by a Sony-affiliated studio If Microsoft can tempt even Sony to port its games to the Xbox, what will the next cross-platform collaboration look like?

On the other hand, Xbox gamers won't necessarily have to start lining up to pre-order Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart or Horizon Forbidden West; MLB The Show 21 is an Xbox Game Pass is an interesting choice for the Xbox Game Pass, but Sony may be testing it under the radar, or it may be a one-off deal unrelated to Sony's other libraries

At the very least, it would be good news for baseball fans after last year's disappointing season