MLB The Show 17

Playstation

There are countless reasons to love The Show.

Mutt Industries’ campaign for the 2017 release of MLB The Show aimed to get gamers outside of the typical sports gaming sphere to reappraise the title. With Ken Griffey Jr. gracing the cover this year and an all-new retro mode, we had an opportunity to hit on some old school gaming nostalgia to capture hearts and minds too. We moved away from the traditional baseball look and feel of years past with fresh, modern, and colorful updates that could feel both contemporary and retro, and helped push the game beyond the realm of baseball simulation and into the world of gaming. This edition of The Show became the biggest seller in the history of the franchise with more than 20% growth.

Work on the campaign included overall campaign concept, visual identity, a launch spot and a broadcast spot created in partnership with a production and animation studio, a regionalized pre-roll and display ad campaign, a quirky variety show YouTube series featuring MLB athletes exploring the game (see The Show Show), event design for MLB athlete event during Spring Training, and an ongoing social campaign from the game’s announcement through post-launch.

Creative Directors: Simon Armour, Adam Long
Art Director: Rhiannon Hare
Copywriter: Avery Harrison
Designers: Rhiannon Hare, Danny Peterson, Steven Birch
Animation: Golden Wolf
Production: Sony San Diego Studio

 
animated gif of a baseball flying into space with colorful galaxy effect and mlb the show logo
a pixelated hand pressing a PS4 controller button overtop of a video game baseball field
 
sketch of a baseball player pitching with documents in background
sketch of a man at a press conference with speech bubbles coming out of his mouth
animated gif of colorful text that reads 'everybody loves the show'
 
a video game baseball player sliding into a base with animated elements over footage
animated gif of video game baseball field footage with animated elements over top, and ken griffey jr. and anthony rizzo sitting on a couch playing video games
 
 
two tablets with mlb the show website pages
mockup of espn website with mlb the show display ad takeover
 
handdrawn image of a young ken griffey jr moving towards camera and text that reads griffey's believe it or not
image of ken griffey jr's hat spinning around on his head and text that reads 'griffey's believe it or not'
 
sketchbook spread of ken griffey jr frames with hat spinning around and text that reads 'griffey's believe it or not'
 
pixel art gif with text that has old school trash talk
gif of excuses to skip work against colorful background
 
lockup of square social graphics for mlb the show 17