New mobile game under license with Shohei Ohtani cover athlete available on Android and iOS
Marketing extensions include activations of the MLB Tokyo series, 2025 Presentation of the opening day and sponsor of global voting title of stars
Los Angeles – March 25, 2025 – Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. (Konami) and Major League Baseball announced today a new global partnership to commit and continue to grow the MLB fans base worldwide and promote the last mobile game approved by MLB – Ebaseball ™: MLB Pro Spirit. As part of the MLB partnership, Konami will act inside and outside the Tokyo Dome to promote Ebaseball: MLB Pro Spirit during the MLB Tokyo series presented by Guggenheim from March 18 to 19. From there, Konami is launching his global marketing campaign for Ebaseball ™: MLB Pro Spirit with multimedia creative spots featuring the receiver of the Baltimore Orioles Adley Rutschman Receiver and the San Diego Padres Jackson Merrill from the digital and social platforms. As part of its advertising mixture, the opening day of the MLB 2025 presented by Ebaseball ™: MLB Pro Spirit Composite Logo will operate on mlb.com, MLB Network, MLB Social Media Accounts and MLB Media Partners in the United States
Another historic characteristic of this partnership provides the MLB All-Star ballot with a global sponsor and a mobile game extension for the first time; It also allows more people to access MLB All-Star voting abroad than before. The voting of the 2025 Pro Spirit Allb stars this season and more details on the voting integration of the updated fans will be announced on a later date. As a title partner of the All-Star election, Ebaseball ™: MLB Pro Spirit Branding will be presented on the various MLB media platforms while fans vote online for their favorite players.
“Konami has been innovating for almost half a century and has entered sports fans with their unique offers for decades for decades, but with this highly integrated partnership, we can help take Ebaseball ™: MLB Pro Spirit at another level and offer a really exceptional experience for fans,” said Noah Garden, MLB, Business & Media. “The emphasis on Konami on the evolution of their consumers’ experience thanks to technology and innovation aligns with our priorities at MLB, making it an ideal partner. We look forward to collaborating throughout the season to promote this new fun game and highlight our many talented players around the world. ”
“We are pleased to announce this strategic partnership with MLB,” said Hideki Hayakawa, representative director, president of Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. “For more than 30 years, we have provided entertaining and immersive baseball video game experiences in Japan and we are happy to associate with the League to share these experiences with a larger public.”
Konami’s Ebaseball ™: MLB Pro Spirit aims to offer an authentic and immersive experience that allows fans to take advantage of the simulation of realistic baseball games and players training on their Android or iOS mobile devices. Konami plans to implement various measures in Ebaseball ™: MLB Pro Spirit, including its “Star Watch” system. In “Star Watch”, Ebaseball ™: MLB Pro Spirit, users predict and vote for a ball player according to the theme of each month. Once the collective vote has been counted, nominated players will appear in the game with power-ups according to their performances in the regular season games of the real world. What is happening during MLB games in the regular season has a direct impact on virtual ball grounds in Ebaseball ™: MLB Pro Spirit creating a pleasant and interactive experience for MLB enthusiasts and video game fans. Events at stake are also planned to vote for stars to help determine who will play in the All-Star game presented by Mastercard in July.
Since 2016, Konami has continuously worked to extend and revitalize esports by organizing national tournaments for the Pawafuru Puroyakyu series. In 2017, Konami began to use ESPORTS for regional promotion by associating with events such as the Ehime E-Baseball tournament, a cultural program of the Ehime Kokutai (Ehime National Athletic Meet). Since 2018, Konami has organized a professional esports league in collaboration with Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), and they have worked with the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBBS) to extend the baseball fans worldwide. In the 2021 virtual Olympic series and international 2023 Olympic Esports tournaments organized by the International Olympic Committee (CIO), the Pawafuru Puroyakyu series was used as a competition title.
