Backyard Sports Leads Announce Completion of the Retro Collection, Discuss Animated Special Wrapping Production, and More

During its sheet astatine New York Comic Con, Playground Productions not lone looked backmost connected the instrumentality and relaunch of the beloved Backyard Sports video games, but it besides announced it volition beryllium completing its Backyard Sports retro postulation with Backyard Basketball '01 and Backyard Hockey '02 successful mid-November, that determination are precocious scores and events coming to Backyard Baseball '97, and it shared a fewer caller details for the series' upcoming animated special.

To larn more, IGN had the accidental to talk to Playground Productions CEO Linday Barnett and Chief Product Officer Chris Waters astir the past and aboriginal of this fan-favorite franchise, and we began by chatting astir what makes these games truthful special.

"We deliberation it works due to the fact that the games person ever been character-first, comedy-forward, and accessible," Waters said. "These games weren't, 'Hey, let's marque the astir incredibly realistic simulation,' they were, 'let's recreate the acquisition of what it felt similar to spell retired and prime up a bat and a ball, drawback immoderate friends you had astir whether they're diversion oregon not, and spell retired and play shot and spot what madness ensues.' That madness transcends clip and transcends technology."

Backyard Sports' Retro Library Will Be Complete successful Mid-November, New Features Headed to Backyard Baseball '97

Whether you are caller to the franchise oregon returning to it, you'll beryllium blessed to cognize that the Backyard Sports retro room volition beryllium implicit erstwhile Backyard Basketball '02 and Backyard Hockey '02 are released connected Steam successful mid-November. Oh, and did we notation some volition beryllium escaped to download and keep?

These games, alongside Baseball '97, Baseball '01, Football '99, Soccer '98, volition besides beryllium portion of the Backyard Sports Retro Bundle, which volition beryllium disposable for $26 - a 40% savings from buying each the games individually. Players volition adjacent beryllium capable to 'Complete the Set' and lone wage for the games you don't person yet astatine the cheaper price.

Furthermore, the Backyard Soccer '98 and Backyard Basketball '02 mobile versions volition beryllium escaped connected iOS and Android erstwhile that Steam retro bundle goes unrecorded aboriginal adjacent month.

Speaking of mobile, Backyard Baseball '97 is getting a caller gamification diagnostic successful collaboration with Lucra. Fans tin present vie against each different successful week-long and month-long events similar Home Run Competitions oregon Most Strikeouts.

Global precocious scores volition beryllium tracked successful real-time, and the caller diagnostic volition beryllium escaped for fans and adjacent includes a accidental to triumph tickets to the 2025 World Series, a Pablo Sanchez trading card, and more. This diagnostic volition statesman connected iOS to start, and players volition request to opt-iin and supply immoderate idiosyncratic information.

"What we privation to bash is let that assemblage to turn and for players to beryllium capable to prosecute with each other," Waters said of the caller gamification features. "And again, without the root code, we can't marque these games, but by adding a tourney furniture onto them, we're benignant of creating a backdoor co-op mode."

Fun fact, Playground Productions did not get the root codification for astir of these games erstwhile they acquired the rights, truthful the squad had to hack the aged CD-ROMs and rebuilt the games themselves.

"We thought those games were conscionable dead," Barrnett told us. "And it was an unthinkable feat that Mega Kat Studios was capable to do, which is reverse technologist and hack the CD-ROMs to marque them playable. The happening that we didn't cognize successful each of this, however, was that we'd beryllium capable to marque the games adjacent amended and we were capable to region definite bugs that existed successful the archetypal games and adhd leaderboards and adhd competitions and conscionable marque them playable connected systems that didn't adjacent beryllium backmost then, similar Nintendo Switch."

The Future of Backyard Sports Includes an Animated Special That Just Finished Production

We past shifted our speech to the future. While the squad wasn't acceptable to uncover thing astir aboriginal games, they did corroborate that Backyard Sports officially wrapped accumulation connected their caller animated peculiar that builds upon the brand's beloved IP and characters.

This peculiar is being produced by Lighthouse Studios, which is known for its enactment connected Bob's Burgers and Rick & Morty, and it volition diagnostic an "all-star cast" that volition beryllium announced successful aboriginal November. As for erstwhile you tin spot it, the peculiar volition beryllium released astatine Dave & Buster's successful aboriginal 2026 and nonstop to user soon after.

"What makes Backyard Sports peculiar is the characters," Waters said. "For us, the accidental to instrumentality your favourite characters and bring them to beingness successful a caller mode was a no-brainer arsenic we've already said this is simply a multi-platform franchise we privation to spell beyond games. We each loved however beauteous the animation was successful the games and however overmuch emotion and attraction they enactment in, and it made you emotion and recognize the characters and made you privation to prime a definite character. So, we are really, truly humbled to beryllium capable to widen that into much animation.

"This peculiar was our mode of establishing a tone, establishing a look, and truly putting our emblem down to say, Backyard is simply a multi-platform franchise. You're going to beryllium capable to acquisition it successful tons of antithetic ways. I can't hold until we tin accidental more, but I tin committedness you that I've got a 20-year past successful animation and we person pulled retired each the stops to marque thing that captures the code and magic and drama of this world."

First look astatine the Backyard Sports revival from 2024, featuring Pablo Sanchez and Stephanie Morgan

With Backyard Sports, the squad wants these games and multimedia projects to showcase conscionable however amusive sports tin beryllium and for this caller procreation to bask each of this alongside those that grew up with them.

"Streamers person picked these games up and radical aren't watching them due to the fact that they're astonishing video crippled players," Waters said. "They're watching them due to the fact that they're bringing these kids to beingness done their ain lens. It reminds you of what it was similar to play shot the archetypal clip you picked up a mitt and a bat and a shot and you were conscionable playing for fun. I deliberation that's been the large happening for wherefore this truly is simply a timeless and classical franchise."

"It is celebrating each of the antithetic characters successful your backyard and each their strengths and possibly adjacent immoderate of the weaknesses," Barnett added. "You laughter and you get done everything together. You play unneurotic and you mightiness win, you mightiness lose, but you ever had amusive doing it. And unfortunately, a batch of sports, not conscionable sports video games, but besides conscionable sports successful wide aren't truly similar that anymore."

Adam Bankhurst is simply a writer for IGN. You tin travel him connected X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst, Instagram, and TikTok, and perceive to his show, Talking Disney Magic.