[Update] MLB The Show 16 Experiencing Debilitating Server Issues That Affect All Modes

Update (April 8, 2016 @ 5:31 p.m.): The development team has provided an update on the official forums of MLB The Show 16. You can read their full response to the recent server issues below.

Every season, there’s nothing we look forward to more than finally getting a new version of MLB The Show into our fans’ hands. We spend our offseason striving to make the best baseball game possible, aided by an amazing community that buoys us with their support and terrific feedback.

The Show 16 is the culmination of all of that, a labor of love for all of us, and while we’re proud of everything we put in the package this year, our initial online experience has been inconsistent.

We apologize that the excitement of launch and the start of the season has been soured by these issues. Our team is taking every step necessary and working around the clock to stabilize our online servers as soon as possible.

In acknowledgment of the frustration these issues have caused, if you’ve played The Show 16 while connected to PlayStation Network before 1 pm PDT, Friday, April 8, we’re adding 5,000 stubs and 10 standard packs to your account. Stubs will show up automatically by Tuesday, April 12; no redemption required. Packs can be accessed in the “Open Packs” section by Tuesday, April 12 (via “Main Menu > My Locker > Inventory > Open Packs”).

To those of you who’ve reached out to us during this week, and to the many more who we haven’t heard from but who may have been affected, we extend our endless thanks and appreciation for your patience and ongoing support.

Original Story (April 7, 2016 @ 4:59 p.m.):

Early yesterday morning, MLB The Show 16 underwent server maintenance as announced on the official MLB The Show Twitter account. When the maintenance window ended, however, players began noticing that the menus are taking much longer than usual to load – sometimes to the point where it displays an error message.

The load times, which are worsened during prime time hours, affect any part of the game that tries to access the servers. This means it not only affects modes like online matchmaking and the server-focused Diamond Dynasty mode, but also single-player modes like Road to the Show and franchise since you can sometimes earn rewards for Diamond Dynasty for leveling up your player card. Since you also earn Diamond Dynasty rewards for starting up the game, even trying to load the main menu from the title screen can throw an error or take abnormally long to load. 

I experienced these problems last night. Below, you can see a video I took several minutes into the game attempting to load the main menu from the title screen.

I'm not exaggerating. pic.twitter.com/rt1rlK9jex

— Brian Shea (@BrianPShea) April 7, 2016

A simple Twitter search shows that this is far from a localized problem. The official MLB The Show Twitter account has not posted any news or acknowledgment of the problem, though several of its followers are letting them know about the problem in response to other Tweets. We reached out to PlayStation for comment on the issues, but did not immediately receive a response. Should we receive a response, we will update this post.

[Source: Pasta Padre, Twitter]

Our Take
The problem is easily fixable by disconnecting from the Internet prior to starting the game, but that's not something players should have to do to seamlessly play modes like franchise and Road to the Show, which have little to no online components. With no comment being delivered via the official MLB The Show Twitter account, fans are left in the dark about any kind of resolution that might make the game function properly again.