At long last, “Backyard Sports” is back.
Playground Productions, a children and family entertainment company, announced the official relaunch of the beloved sports video game franchise on Tuesday.
The company released a trailer featuring Pablo Sanchez, Pete Wheeler, Kiesha Phillips and more characters from the original “Backyard Sports” series.
Playground Productions said the video game series will return “in the coming months.” Not only will the franchise return with a video game series, but the company also plans to roll out “Backyard Sports” merchandise, movies and TV shows.
“We’re incredibly excited to reintroduce ‘Backyard Sports’ to a new generation of players,” said Chris Waters, chief product officer at Playground Productions, in a statement to Sports Illustrated. “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.”
Humongous Entertainment founded “Backyard Sports” in 1997, and the series was licensed by major sports leagues, including the NFL, NBA and MLB, to put some of the world’s greatest athletes alongside the “Backyard Kids.” There have been 38 “Backyard Sports” games released in all, with the most recent being a mobile app version in 2015.
Former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce helped bring “Backyard Sports” back into the mainstream earlier this year when he brought up his desire to acquire the rights to the franchise.
“I don’t even know if I want to mention this. I’ve secretly been looking into seeing if anybody holds the rights to “Backyard Baseball” and “Backyard Football” because I want to buy it and get this thing going again,” Kelce said on an episode of the “New Heights” podcast with his brother, Travis Kelce.
Kelce isn’t directly involved in the rebooted franchise, but Playground Productions says he represents an excited fanbase.
“While Jason Kelce isn’t directly involved in this relaunch, he represents an audience of people that, to this day, fondly remember ‘Backyard Sports’ as a staple game with iconic characters beloved by many,” a Playground Productions spokesperson told Sports Illustrated. “Just like Jason and the millions of other fans out there, Playground Productions recognizes the nostalgia of this franchise and is thrilled to bring it back to life to reach a new generation of players.”