Grab your yellow ball cap and some bubblegum because the Backyard Sports crew that was a staple of kids’ computer games in the 90s and early 2000s is returning in upcoming video games, movies and TV shows.
Playground Productions, a children and family entertainment company founded by former elementary school teacher Lindsay Barnett, plans to relaunch the iconic franchise “in the coming months,” per an announcement Tuesday. The production company also released a trailer teasing the game’s return, and multiple characters from the original series make an appearance.
Stephanie Morgan, blowing her trademark pink bubble, Achmed Khan in his oversized headphones and redheaded speedster Pete Wheeler show up first. Slugger Kiesha Phillips is shown hanging out in the kids’ treehouse, and a dramatic gust of wind blowing leaves across the baseball diamond signals the appearance of Backyard Baseball GOAT Pablo Sanchez, who stares down Morgan in anticipation of her pitch.
The re-release will mark the first installment in the Backyard Sports franchise since a mobile app version dropped in 2015. Dating back to 1997 when the original Backyard Baseball was available exclusively as a computer game, there have been 38 games released across multiple sports (including football, basketball, hockey and soccer) and gaming consoles.
“We’re incredibly excited to reintroduce Backyard Sports to a new generation of players,” Playground Productions chief product officer Chris Waters said. “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 audience expects. I can’t wait for fans to see what we’re building on the Playground.”
Former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce and current Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce are among the millions of Backyard Sports fans, and the brothers talked about their love of the games during an episode of their “New Heights” podcast in February. Jason said that he had “secretly been looking into seeing if anybody holds the rights to Backyard Football and Backyard Baseball” because he wanted to purchase it to revitalize the franchise.
“That was the best game ever,” he said. “It was so fun. It was so electric.”
Though the Kelce brothers aren’t involved in this iteration of the Backyard Sports saga, it seems Sanchez and his teammates will still be back in action soon.
(Photo: Courtesy of Playground Productions)
