‘Backyard Sports’ video game franchise relaunching. Here’s what we know

By Daniel Miller
Published  August 20, 2024 5:43pm CDT
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FILE-A gamer holds an Xbox controller.   (Photo by Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images)

The Brief

    • The "Backyard Sports" video game franchise is set to return in a few months, Playground Productions, the company behind the game, announced Tuesday.
    • The video game franchise debuted in 1997 with the release of "Backyard Baseball" and featured the "Backyard Kids" characters including Pablo Sanchez, Stephanie Morgan, Kenny Kawaguchi, and Pete Wheeler.
    • "Backyard Sports" partnered with several professional sports leagues, including the MLB and NBA, to expand the video game series that featured the pro athletes as child versions of themselves.

null - The iconic "Backyard Sports" video game franchise is officially making a comeback after several years.

This will be the first new video game released by the franchise since 2015, Variety reported. 

Playground Productions announced on Tuesday that the video game series is returning "in the coming months" with the same visual appeal of games from the late 1990s and early 2000s gamers will appreciate. 

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The "Backyard Sports" franchise debuted in 1997 with the release of "Backyard Baseball" and featured the "Backyard Kids" characters including Pablo Sanchez, Stephanie Morgan, Kenny Kawaguchi, and Pete Wheeler.

Sports Illustrated reported that the game was first developed by Humongous Entertainment and published by Atari.

"Backyard Sports" collaborated with Major League Baseball to highlight a player from all 30 teams in the game "Backyard Sports 2001," with pro baseball players depicted as child renditions of themselves. Some of the superstar baseball players in the game were Ken Griffey Jr., Cal Ripken Jr., and Tony Gwynn.  

After forming partnerships with other professional leagues like the NBA, WNBA, NHL, the video game series later expanded and featured other sports with the releases of Backyard Basketball," "Backyard Football," "Backyard Soccer," "Backyard Hockey" and "Backyard Skateboarding."

Sports Illustrated reported that Playground Productions is planning to expand the "Backyard Sports" franchise in other areas like film, television, and merchandise.

The Source

  • Information for this story was provided by Sports Illustrated and Variety.  Sports Illustrated obtained a statement from an executive from Playground Productions confirming the relaunch of the video game. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.