John Oliva/Caller-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK
EA Sports delighted college football fans this year with the return of College Football 25, bringing the beloved football video game back after more than a decade. It seems to have started a trend for other sports, with Backyard Sports delivering some big news this week.
Backyard Sports was a video game series first released in 1997, with the first iteration of Backyard Baseball. It became one of the most popular sports video games of its time, with the series expanding to Backyard Basketball, Backyard Football, Backyard Soccer, Backyard Hockey and Backyard Skateboarding.
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The game was last released in 2015, with the final editions of Backyard Baseball and Backyard Basketball. However, that came after a five-year hiatus and it was only released on iOS and Android devices. It meant many sports fans who grew up dedicating countless hours to the game were only left with the memories.
Backyard Sports is now making a comeback. On Tuesday, a Twitter account for the game series released a trailer for an in-development version of Backyard Baseball. The new game is set to be released in 2025.
Playground Productions, which is responsible for creating family-friendly entertainment, announced that the upcoming video game will offer many of the same features, aesthetics and characters that fans grew up playing with and loving.
“We’re incredibly excited to reintroduce ‘Backyard Sports’ to a new generation of players. 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.”
Playground Productions chief product officer Chris Waters on the return of Backyard Sports (H/T Variety)
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As the trailer shows, this also means the return of Pablo Sanchez. The greatest player ever in the history of Backyard Sports, as documented by Secret Base, along with characters such as Stephanie Morgan, Pete Wheeler and so many others.
It’s unknown if Backyard Sports will be partnering with the National Football League, Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association. In previous editions of the game, the child versions of NBA, NFL and MLB stars were included in the Backyard Sports rosters. Considering today’s athletes grew up in the era of Backyard Sports, it stands to reason many of them would want to be part of the game they grew up playing.
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