Take-Two Interactive announced that they’ve reached an agreement with Major League Baseball Properties and the Major League Baseball Advanced Media company to complement their recent third-party exclusivity deal with the Major League Baseball Players Association. The licensing deal begins in the Spring of 2006, and permits hardware manufacturers such as Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony to develop their own baseball products. The new agreement also assures that no third-party publisher can associate themselves with a hardware manufacturer to develop an officially licensed baseball title.

Take-Two Interactive also revealed that New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter will be the spokesperson and cover athlete for the upcoming 2K Baseball series.

“I’m excited to be partnering with an industry leader like Take-Two and I look forward to working together to take the video game experience to the next level for baseball fans,” said Derek Jeter.