Almost three years after its initial release, WBSC eBaseball Power Pros is saying goodbye. The game will leave digital storefronts at midnight Japan Time on January 31st, and the game’s online multiplayer servers will shut down as the calendar flips to April 1st.
The post says:
We extend our heartfelt thanks to all players who supported and enjoyed the game since its launch in February 2023. Across three exciting seasons of the WBSC eBaseball™ Series, millions of games played, and even a historic appearance on the HUGAN WBSC ePremier12 and Olympic Esports stages, your passion, creativity, and competitive spirit have shaped an enthusiastic global community and helped elevate WBSC’s commitment to eSports to a new level.
While this chapter comes to a close, it is far from the end of WBSC’s eSports journey. We are already excited to bring you the WBSC eBaseball™ Series 2.0.
Thank you for being part of this incredible journey — and stay tuned for the next chapter. We can’t wait to show you what’s next.
This was Konami’s first reentry into English-language markets for the Power Pros or Pawapuro series since a 2013 mobile game, and first home console title since MLB Power Pros 2008.
WBSC eBaseball Power Pros was a half-hearted entry at best: The World Baseball Softball Confederation license didn’t confer any actual leagues or players to the game, so the roster is only the fictional characters from Pawapuro‘s Success and PawaFes modes. If, like 99.99% of the English-speaking world, you haven’t been playing the previous games only available in Japanese, these look like a bunch of random and unexplainable characters.
The only modes were a simple practice mode versus the computer, or online tournaments. With no cross-play between platforms, and a player base still mostly based in Japan, certain players would struggle to find a game a few months after release.
The localization was not even half-baked: Commentary was only available in Japanese. Special abilities had odd names that were confusingly explained by the limited in-game text.
However! The minimal $1 price point generated interest, and the gameplay was fun and with a high skill ceiling. I have never played more online multiplayer in a baseball game than I did with this title. A strong Discord community built up several tournaments, and the WBSC organization sponsored eSports Olympics qualifiers which I participated in:
The USA Finals were a lot of fun to watch just a few months ago too:
It was almost featureless, but still a strong introduction to the gameplay of the series, and it helped me get into the competitive multiplayer aspect in a way I never had before. Playing against human beings results in a whole different playstyle than going up against the computer, and the low price barrier to entry prevented the online userbase from becoming too strong to go up against.
The announcement mentions an “WBSC eBaseball™ Series 2.0,” and an announcement from an inside source on the Power Pros Discord says this will not be the end of WBSC’s involvement in eSports. We’ll have to wait and see what that means. The server shutdown comes right at the start of the real-world baseball season, when new baseball games tend to release. I don’t have much hope for a new English-language Power Pros title yet, but it’s a possibility. I wonder if WBSC might have interest in switching over to the new The Show going forward.