Backyard Sports Is Back, But We're Not Sure Exactly How Yet

As someone who grew up in the ’90s and early 2000s, I can’t help but feel a wave of nostalgia hearing that Backyard Sports is making a comeback! Pablo Sanchez was an absolute legend back then, and the memories I have playing those games are still vivid.


Between 1999 and 2015, the Backyard Sports series was a cherished collection of kid-friendly sports games, characterized by vibrant visuals, simple mechanics, and a video game icon in Pablo Sanchez. Now, Playground Productions has revealed that not only will Backyard Sports be reemerging as video games but also in other forms.

It appears that Backyard Sports is making a comeback across various sectors, such as video games, merchandise, films, television, and beyond, as indicated in a recent press release. The initial project from this revival is scheduled to debut within the next few months; however, further details like whether it’s a video game or its potential platforms were not disclosed.

A quick preview was unveiled together with the announcement, featuring several children in the distinctive Backyard Sports illustration style getting ready for a baseball match. The scene includes a treehouse displaying league tables and tournament schedules, the playground itself, and as the pitcher approaches the mound, Pablo Sanchez is shown stepping up to bat.

Established in 2022, Playground Productions is a company founded by Lindsay Barrett, who previously taught second grade and boasts over a decade of experience within the Chicago public school system. According to their website, Playground Productions utilizes cutting-edge technology, skilled professionals, and popular intellectual properties to generate content that embodies the joy of play, caters to children’s developmental stages, and allows kids to simply be kids.

1997 marked the PC debut of Backyard Sports under the title Backyard Baseball in October. Subsequently, Backyard Soccer and Backyard Football were released in September 1998 and October 1999 respectively. The latest Backyard Sports games prior to this announcement appeared on mobile devices; they were both launched together in February 2015 – Backyard Sports: Baseball 2015 and Backyard Sports: Basketball 2015. A movie based on Backyard Sports was also announced in 2016, but the project did not progress further.

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2024-08-20 17:39