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MLB The Show 16 players have been dealing with some iffy servers since the game's launch 10 days ago, and developer Sony San Diego offered a public apology and a make-good for the issues today, along with a patch.
Two of MLB 16's biggest additions are modes within Diamond Dynasty, a suite in which players build teams with virtual trading cards and can spend real money on new cards. Everything in Diamond Dynasty requires an internet connection, and doing anything in that online component — even simple activities like scrolling between entries in a list — requires a check-in with the game's servers.
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MLB 16's servers have been running at a molasses-slow pace, especially during prime-time hours, creating interminable delays for people looking to play Diamond Dynasty. Pastapadre reports that the issues were even worse last night: Since the game checks in with the servers when it boots up — it awards a new Diamond Dynasty item for each daily login — some players were waiting "upwards of five minutes" just to get to the main menu.
"We apologize that the excitement of launch and the start of the season has been soured by these issues," said Sony San Diego in a post on the MLB The Show forums this afternoon. "Our team is taking every step necessary and working around the clock to stabilize our online servers as soon as possible."
As a further apology for the server trouble, Sony San Diego is providing a bunch of free content to anybody who played MLB 16 while connected to the PlayStation Network before 1 p.m. PT today, April 8: 10 standard packs of Diamond Dynasty cards and 5,000 Stubs (MLB 16's in-game currency). That amounts to $15 worth of free items. The Stubs will show up automatically by April 12; the free packs must be opened within the game by that date.
Sony San Diego also patched MLB 16 to version 1.02 today. The update addresses issues like the "challenge failed" errors that players were seeing when they tried to play against other people, and also tackles a few freezing bugs. Read the patch notes for more details.
