Ares Interactive Launches MLB-Licensed Mobile Sim Baseball Hits 26

Baseball Hits 26 is now live on iOS and Android, and for anyone who burned hundreds of hours on MLB Tap Sports Baseball before EA pulled the plug, that matters more than it might seem. The title was developed by 7th Inning, a San Francisco-based studio founded by Ares Interactive and staffed by veteran developers behind the MLB Tap Sports Baseball franchise, which ended following EA's acquisition of Glu Mobile. The reunion of that dev team was never going to be a quiet drop.

Ares Interactive announced the launch of Baseball Hits 26, featuring superstar catcher Cal Raleigh as the cover athlete, available now on the App Store and Google Play as a free-to-play title. The game features more than 800 licensed MLB players, including Mariners superstar Cal Raleigh alongside Juan Soto, Tarik Skubal, Corbin Carroll, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

The license behind the roster is worth spelling out: Ares Interactive president Mike DeLaet believes there is a gap in the market for mobile baseball games after MLB Tap Sports Baseball was dropped by EA. What Ares secured to fill it is an MLB Players, Inc. deal — player likenesses and real stats — not the full MLB license, which means you won't find official team names or logos in the game. The players are real; the uniforms are not.

On the field, the design philosophy is portrait-first and tap-driven. Intuitive one-touch controls, including "tap to swing" at the plate and "tap to pitch" on the mound, let players at any skill level jump into the action from the first at-bat, with every pitch, hit, and home run feeling major league through lifelike motion-capture animation, realistic baseball physics, and stats based on real-life players. The game ships with four modes: Hits Mode, Pitching Ace, Total Baseball, and Home Run King.

7th Inning director of engineering Michael Saperstein said: "Baseball is a game of timing, those split-second moments when every swing and every pitch can change everything, and we wanted that tension and payoff to translate instantly on mobile. Baseball Hits 26 is faster and more approachable than a traditional simulation, but it still feels like real baseball and rewards players with collaborative social play, deep strategy, competitive progression, and meaningful stats."

Cal Raleigh, who is also the game's cover athlete, put it more plainly. "Having the opportunity to partner with Ares Interactive as the cover athlete for Baseball Hits 26 is a highlight," the all-star catcher said. "The game is going to be perfect for road trips when I've got some downtime and just want to have a little fun."

The club and live-ops layer is where Ares is clearly betting on long-term retention. Clubs let players connect with other fans to chat, compete in live events and tournaments, and climb the leaderboards solo or alongside their Club, earning shared rewards that capture the spirit of a clubhouse. Time-limited Events with exclusive rewards round out the competitive calendar.

Ares Interactive, founded by former Glu Mobile CEO Niccolo De Masi and headed by president Mike DeLaet, who previously worked at Mattel as global head of digital gaming and Scopely as SVP of strategic partnerships, came into this launch with significant backing. The company raised $70 million in a Series A investment round to expand its operations and launch a new baseball game in 2026, with the round led by General Catalyst. The company currently runs live titles including Heroes vs Hordes, which has surpassed 13 million installs globally.

DeLaet has said "no other baseball title has truly replaced the audience or revenue that MLB Tap Sports Baseball generated" and that "that demand didn't disappear," adding that "our team has been working in this space for a long time, and we believe Baseball Hits 26 delivers a fun, accessible, and highly engaging experience that the market has been missing." With $70 million behind it and an entire fanbase still searching for a replacement after TSB went dark, the window is real.