Backyard Baseball and the rest of the Backyard Sports gaming franchise are being relaunched with plans for new video games, merchandise, films, television shows, and more.
The original Backyard Baseball computer game debuted in 1997, featuring a roster of fictional neighborhood kids like Kenny Kawaguchi, Pete Wheeler, Mikey Thomas, Jocinda Smith, and the legend himself, Pablo Sanchez. Over time, the franchise introduced child versions of actual MLB players.
The popularity of Backyard Baseball led to spin-off games including Backyard Soccer, Backyard Football, Backyard Hockey, and Backyard Basketball.
Over the last decade, ownership of the Backyard Sports franchise has exchanged multiple hands, including by a European investment group that later went bankrupt. The most recent installment of Backyard Baseball was released in 2015.
Now, though, Playground Productions has secured the rights to Backyard Sports with the intention to relaunch the franchise in the coming months. To coincide with today’s announcement, Playground Productions has unveiled a new website and teaser trailer (see below).