When Hideo Nomo joined the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995 as the first MLB player from Japan in three decades, his Rookie of the Year-winning campaign inspired “Nomo-mania” in Southern California. Ever since, Nippon Professional Baseball has routinely exported some of the most talented and popular baseball players in the world.
Now, video-game publisher Konami will bring the entirety of Japan’s domestic league to American baseball fans. The company is releasing a worldwide version of its NPB-focused eBaseball Pro Spirit 2026 this week to more than 200 countries and regions, including the U.S. The full simulation-style baseball game had only been available in Japan since its March debut. This is the first NPB-licensed video game that has been launched for a global audience.
The expanded rollout offers a business growth opportunity for both Konami and NPB, putting the domestic league’s 12 clubs and hundreds of participating players center stage for a brand-new audience. A prior iteration of eBaseball Pro Spirit picked up internet buzz in the U.S. despite not being sold outside Japan, a sign the video game series could have an audience well beyond Tokyo.
“We believe that delivering the unique appeal of NPB—including its distinctive playing styles, strategies, and fan culture—to audiences around the world through Konami’s digital content can create meaningful opportunities for people to engage with Japanese baseball culture,” Tatsuhiko Yamamoto, an executive director at Konami, said in an email.
In doing so, Konami is betting on the recent influx of global interest in Japanese baseball, which has grown exponentially since Nomo’s debut and is reaching new heights as Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani continues to make baseball history. Ohtani, a four-time MVP and two-time World Series champion, began his pro career with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. He’s led MLB in jersey sales for three years, driven gangbuster television ratings across the globe and built an endorsement portfolio than earns him an estimated $125 million annually, according to Sportico data.
While Ohtani’s popularity in the U.S. is part of why Konami is eager to engage with American baseball fans, the company was also encouraged by the viewer interest in the most recent World Baseball Classic. The tournament appeared for the first time as a game mode in the Japanese version of eBaseball Pro Spirit 2026. (The feature won’t be available in many markets other than a select group of Asian ones due to licensing conflicts with Sony’s MLB: The Show franchise.)
Konami also took note when teaser videos of a previous edition of the game that wasn’t released in the U.S., Professional Baseball Spirits 2024-2025, unexpectedly attracted attention on social media outside of Japan, with many users lauding its gameplay, graphics and presentation.
“The response we have seen has reinforced our sense that baseball titles originating from Japan have the potential to resonate with fans around the world,” Yamamoto said.
Konami has developed and published baseball games for more than three decades, launching the arcade-style Powerful Pros Yakyuu (the Japanese word for baseball) franchise with a title for the Super Nintendo in 1994. A decade later, the company waded into the waters of simulation gameplay by spinning off the Pro Spirits series and delivering its first entry for the PlayStation 2.
The video-game publisher would go on to release an additional 20 titles in that line, according to IGN, including the mobile game Pro Yakyuu Spirits A, which has garnered more than 73 million downloads dating back to its release in 2015.
With a desire to reach a more global audience, the company launched a free-to-play version of the Pro Spirits franchise without NPB or the Japan Professional Baseball Players Association licenses to the world in March. U.S. gaming content creators garnered more than a hundred thousand views discussing the development on YouTube, having previously pined for Konami to push its baseball games beyond Japan. That game, which is much slimmer than this week’s full release, was selected as the official competition title for an esports championship run by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, a partner of Konami since 2018. The video-game publisher has esports competitions with NPB as well.
Historically, Sony’s MLB: The Show has been the dominant simulation baseball franchise on console in North America. But MLB has an existing relationship with Konami since the publisher previously produced a Pro Spirit mobile game with the MLB license and has engaged in various partnership initiatives over the past few years.
“We have a vibrant video game licensing business that appeals to the varied interests of our fans around the world and we couldn’t be more pleased to be working with exceptional baseball development teams and publishers including Konami, Sony, Com2US and others,” Jamie Leece, MLB’s senior vice president of business focused on global consumer products, retail and XR, said in an email. “Konami is a key part of our overall licensing strategy and their involvement with the All-Star Ballot has also been mutually beneficial for both the league and Konami.”
eBaseball Pro Spirit 2026 will cost $59.99 and be available on PlayStation 5 and Windows through the Steam platform. The game will also feature English-language commentary for the first time, provided by UCLA football and basketball sportscaster Josh Lewin.