The world of gaming is about to get a major boost with the announcement of a new installment in the beloved “Backyard Sports” video game franchise. Playground Productions, the rights holder of this iconic ’90s title, is hard at work on multiple projects, including a TV series or film adaptation along with the development of an untitled game.

Bringing Back the Classics with a Modern Twist

This new “Backyard Sports” game is set to offer a fresh and exciting experience while staying true to the essence of the original. It will feature all the beloved original characters along with some new additions, embracing the comedy, diversity, accessibility, and fun that made the original titles timeless classics. Just like the retro titles, it can be used as a tool to teach kids sports rules and strategies, but it will also have difficulty levels that will challenge the original fan base.

The game is being developed by Mega Cat Studios with heavy involvement from Playground Productions founder and CEO Lindsay Barnett and chief product officer Chris Waters. Barnett expressed his excitement, saying, “We are really excited because basically, we get to take the game that people loved and add new features that are kind of what you remember, falsely remember, perhaps, but add new features that are modernized for the times. And also making it a little more challenging for the adults that loved it and still keeping all of the charm and excitement for the kids who are discovering it.”

Steady Revitalization of the “Backyard Sports” Brand

Playground Productions has been on a mission to revitalize the “Backyard Sports” brand. In October, they re-launched “Backyard Baseball ‘97,” which is now a global top-selling sports game on Steam. Next up, on November 27, they will release the re-release of “Backyard Soccer ‘98.” Additionally, upcoming game relaunches include “Backyard Football ‘99,” “Backyard Basketball ‘01,” “Backyard Baseball ‘01,” and “Backyard Hockey ‘02.”

Several of the classic “Backyard Sports” titles are also being developed into mobile game format by Playground Productions and Mega Cat Studios. Waters shared, “When Lindsay and I first talked about this franchise, it was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I want to know more about Pablo and Kiesha and Kenny and Pete and Sunny and all the characters.’ So we are deep into development in terms of bringing these things back from a storytelling standpoint. We started that with the comic strips on our social media, which our fans all do caption contests for. And we’re going to expand that into actual animation, both for digital and TV and film. So all those things are being actively thought about and developed — but really the focus is make a great game and bring back the games on as many platforms as we can.”