It’s the summer when popular sports video games return.
First, “College Football 25” came back after a break of over 10 years and now the famous “Backyard Sports” franchise is making a comeback.
Playground Productions announced the return of the video game series on Tuesday, but the company did not give a specific date for the release, saying in a press release only that it would happen “in the coming months.”
It would be the first time the Backyard Sports franchise has released a new game since 2015, when Fingerprint Network released Backyard Sports: Baseball and Backyard Sports: Basketball for iOS and Android devices.
The popular franchise originally debuted in 1997 under developer Humongous Entertainment with “Backyard Baseball” and later expanded to include basketball, football, hockey, soccer and skateboarding as its characters became icons among those growing up in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Pablo Sanchez, Stephanie Morgan, Achmed Khan, Pete Wheeler and Kiesha Phillips are among the most famous characters in the video game series – they all appeared in the trailer released on Tuesday.
“We’re incredibly excited to introduce Backyard Sports to a new generation of gamers,” said Chris Waters, chief product officer of Playground Productions, in a statement, according to Variety. “We’re taking great care to preserve the look and feel that made the original games so special, while updating them with modern features and gameplay that today’s audiences expect. I can’t wait to show fans what we’re building at Playground.”
The Backyard Sports franchise was originally released on computers and was also available for game consoles in the following years.
“Backyard Sports is more than just a game; it is a cherished part of childhood for millions of people,” said Lindsay Barnett, founder and CEO of Playground Productions, in a statement.
Before the announcement and release of the trailer on Tuesday, hints of a possible return of the game had recently surfaced.
Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. even brought out a special bat with Sanchez on it for a weekend series against the Reds as part of Players’ Weekend.
Earlier this year, the popular video game series was the topic of conversation for Travis and Jason Kelce on the podcast “New Heights”.
Jason, the former Eagles center, even admitted that he was “secretly” considering trying to acquire the rights to “Backyard Baseball” and “Backyard Football” to relaunch them.
Sports Illustrated reported that Jason had nothing to do with the reboot put together by Playground Productions.
