OOTP 25 and a statement by Markus

[Markus Heinsohn]

Dear OOTP fans!

Today is a special day for me and the entire team. We will announce the 25th version of Out of the Park Baseball. A quarter of a century. I still can't believe it.

I remember sitting in my 80 square feet student home as a 21-year old in the year 1998, working on that weird idea of developing a baseball management game, similar to the soccer (or football, as we Europeans say) manager games that I loved in my childhood. Back during those days, I played baseball in a German league and was obsessed with the sport. Little did I know that this would turn out to be a rather successful career choice. And here we are, more than 25 years later.

Now, there is one decision we made in the past months which has been a first in our history, and that is concerning the price of the game. Back in 1999 OOTP launched at $49.99, but the next year we dropped the price to $39.99 and it has remained that way ever since. But, times have changed, the user base has grown massively, but so have the costs of development, as we now have a team of over a dozen people and several official licenses (MLB, MLBPA, KBO, Baseball Hall of Fame and so on). After the pandemic peak had passed, it became obvious that this price would no longer be sustainable in order to run a business, while paying fair salaries to keep up with inflation. So, we have made the decision to increase the regular price of the game to $49.99 this year.

In order to make the transition as smooth as possible, we have further decided that the game will come with a massive 30% pre-order and launch-week discount (including Steam & the Epic Store), which actually puts the price at $34.99 during that time, which is less than in years prior. I hope this will work out well for both you and us.

I would like to thank all of you for your amazing support in all those years, I am unable to find the adequate words for my gratitude. We have the best community that I can imagine, and I wish that we'll keep this up for another 25 years. Let’s go!

Markus

[liberty-ca]

Congratulations, Markus and the whole OOTP team, on an incredible achievement! Best Best of luck professionally and privately to each and every of you! Looking forward not only for the upcoming new release, but for the next 25 years of development. Thanks, guys, and cheers!

[Bluenoser]

Congratulations Markus on this special day.

I remember that 1st version found on a CD - and have been playing since.

Thank you for every version from 1 through 25.

The amount of enjoyment OOTP has given me over the years cannot be measured.

[CBLCardinals]

Congrats Markus!!
I’ve been with you and OOTP since the beginning!

25 years is amazing!!

[Tdog73]

Worth it even at $49.99 (but love the early bird discount &#128521. Any idea yet when the early purchase period will begin? (Apologies if it’s posted somewhere and I missed it).

[Markus Heinsohn]

Originally Posted by Tdog73

Worth it even at $49.99 (but love the early bird discount &#128521. Any idea yet when the early purchase period will begin? (Apologies if it’s posted somewhere and I missed it).

Later today!

[Mantush]

Dollars to hours played, there's no game that out performs OOTP. Can't wait for 25!

[boscoJJ]

Hype

[David Watts]

Will those that purchase from Steam during launch week get the game at $34.99?

[Markus Heinsohn]

Originally Posted by David Watts

Will those that purchase from Steam during launch week get the game at $34.99?

Of course!

[Nord735]

Happy to see another release of OOTP!!!! Price won't drive away those who have played before!


OOTP 3, 5, 8. 10, 11, 14, 17, 19, 21, 22, 24
Inside the park

[Baileycjj]

Congrats to the whole team. Amazing accomplishment - looking forward to many more.

Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

[AESP_pres]

Skiped only a couple of years since OOTP2007 so a small increase won't do a difference for me... will get it when available on Steam (at the end of march if I remember correctly).

[Markus Heinsohn]

OK, March 15 it is, which happens to be my birthday as well. What a day!

Pre-Order and read about the game and its massive 30% pre-order discount, as well as our exciting Road to Release content schedule on our Pre-Order Website!

[OutS|der]

Developmental lab sounds awesome!!

[DrSatan]

Been here since OOTP 4 and I don't see that changing any time soon. Thanks!

[Sweed]

Congratulations Markus on 25 years! Price increase is understandable, while the 30% discount was unexpected. I know over the last year you mentioned a price increase was coming, so I was anticipating the $49.99 price tag with a presale of $44.99. Doesn't really matter, I was in no matter the price. OOTP is still the best bang for the buck game I've every played.

I've added it to my Steam Wish List.

I'm sure the Player Development Lab will be a hit with many users. Something else, along with the foreign player invites/signings, to fill the offseason. Nice.
Looking forward to seeing what other goodies you, Matt, and the crew have added for v25.

[rudel.dietrich]

I do like the new logo
Even if 25th anniversary is supposed to be silver

[rudel.dietrich]

https://ootpdevelopments.onfastspring.com/ootp

From this page, if you click on OOTP 25, it appears to be a cut and paste of the feature set from OOTP 24.

But someone or something did update it to say OOTP 25.
May want to fix that to cut down on confusion of people looking to pre order and being confused on what they will be getting

[Markus Heinsohn]

Originally Posted by rudel.dietrich

https://ootpdevelopments.onfastspring.com/ootp

From this page, if you click on OOTP 25, it appears to be a cut and paste of the feature set from OOTP 24.

But someone or something did update it to say OOTP 25.
May want to fix that to cut down on confusion of people looking to pre order and being confused on what they will be getting

Yes, we're still working on that