Sports games like MLB The Show 25 are often more enjoyable with friends. Whether that's couch co-op or online at a party, playing against friends can add more stakes to what are already fun games.
MLB The Show lets friends play together. It will once again be in the 2025 version of the game, but how do you access that? Here's the official guide to playing online ahead of the launch in a few days.

How to play with friends online in MLB The Show 25
Barring an unforeseen change, one that Sony San Diego has not done in years, the instructions on how to play with friends on the baseball simulator should not change when the game comes out in a few days.
You will first need to make sure cross-platform play is enabled if your friends or the online foes you want to face are not on the same console. To do this, head to the profile button on the main screen. Find the toggle there for crossplay and enable it.
On the other side of the screen, there is a list of friends available online or for invite. This is where you can select them and invite them to a game mode. Even if they're on a different game, it will alert them that you want to play with them.
From there, once they join the game, friends can determine the game type, the ballpark, the weather and everything else that's customizable before hopping into a multiplayer head-to-head match.

Some other modes have multiplayer as well, such as Diamond Dynasty. Those game modes will denote which missions and games are online and which are against a CPU, but any head-to-head in that game is done online and usually against random opponents.
Road to the Show does not have online play, as it's a solo game mode designed for you alone to enjoy your journey to the MLB. It is not a joint game mode for multiple prospects to try and make it up on MLB The Show 25, which stars Paul Skenes, Gunnar Henderson and Elly De La Cruz together on the cover.