Bryce Harper Conquers PS4’s MLB The Show 19

MLB The Show 19 claims that it’s “More than Baseball” and it shows through in their advertising.

PlayStation chose Bryce Harper as the face of the latest installment of its popular series. Harper is one of baseball’s biggest stars with one of the world’s largest sports contracts. He graces the cover of the game sporting his striped Phillies jersey and signature beard. He also appears in this commercial currently in heavy rotation on social media, harping on an interesting new feature of the game with a reference to TV’s biggest show of the moment.

In the ad, Harper sits on a wooden throne of baseball bats as he gives a passionate speech about taking over baseball. The athlete’s garb, dialogue, background music, and chair pays homage to Game of Thrones. Aptly, the whole ad focuses on the game’s conquest feature. It seems as though PlayStation and MLB are attempting to intrigue more fans aside from their typical sporty followers with this reference to pop culture.

PlayStation’s site explains the conquest feature in this way: “Conquer territories, defend strongholds, steal fans! Conquest mode is about battling your way across the league and dominating competition, unlocking excellent prizes along the way.” The description sounds like the board game RISK in Major League Baseball video game form. Except instead of armies you have a team of baseball players leading your fight.

The MLB doesn’t allow many highlights online, but this commercial is littered with gameplay visuals. It gives interested players a feel of what it’s like to conquer the nation with your favorite team. Good luck on your conquest if you choose to play and maybe with a little luck your team will be sitting on the baseball throne again after the World Series.

BONUS: Check out another piece of marketing for MLB The Show 19—watch Bryce Harper play home run derby with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show.