:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/30224779/13156596295_d176f39929_o.0.png)
2K Sports' NBA 2K14 and the upcoming MLB 14 The Show from Sony are teaming up to release a $90 two-pack containing both games on the PlayStation 3. Called PlayStation Sports Pack Vol. 1, it launches on April 1.
It's both an unusual and a typical arrangement for 2K Sports and Sony. On one hand, the two publishers have had a long history of cooperation and cross-promotion with Sony, especially through the launch of the PlayStation 4 last year.
On the other, pairing NBA 2K with MLB the Show underlines the absence and end of the MLB 2K franchise, which trailed The Show in critical reception during its run on PS3 from 2007 until last year. The MLB 2K series was widely seen as only a nominal competitor on PlayStation; the bulk of its sales came from Xbox 360, which had no other simulation baseball game. Even then, it was a money-losing franchise for 2K Sports thanks largely to the terms of a semi-exclusive license negotiated in 2005.
2K Games has paired its titles with those from other publishers in the past, most recently in a couple of bundles with Bethesda Softworks — BioShock Infinite and The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, as well as Borderlands 2 and Dishonored. In the final two years it published a baseball game, 2K Sports also offered an NBA/MLB bundle on the day its MLB game launched.
The MLB 14 The Show/NBA 2K14 pack will include 6000 "stubs," the virtual currency for MLB 14 The Show, and 20,000 in Virtual Currency for NBA 2K14. The virtual money is valued at $10 for each title.
PlayStation Sports Pack Vol. 1 will release alongside MLB 14 The Show on April 1 for PlayStation 3. The PS4 version of MLB 14 The Show arrives on May 6.
