Get to the tree house! We’ve got big news!
It’s the return of old-school video-game series Backyard Sports, which featured kids (and some pro athletes) playing games like baseball, basketball and football in a big backyard. The colorful, family-friendly franchise is being rebooted by a new publisher, which says it’ll release something “in the coming months,” according to an interview with Sports Illustrated.
Ahead of that launch, Backyard Sports already has a new website, a teaser video trailer on YouTube and, yes, even an Instagram account.
The company behind the relaunch, Playground Productions, says it’s also looking for opportunities to expand the beloved brand beyond video games into TV, movies and merchandise.
Backyard Sports launched in 1997 with a baseball game developed by Humongous Entertainment and published by Atari. The franchise grew to include games covering football, soccer, basketball and hockey. The games were developed for consoles and computers as well as mobile devices like the Nintendo Game Boy.
Sports licensing brought kid versions of pro athletes including Tom Brady and Kevin Garnett to the games before Backyard Sports went dormant around 2010. In 2015, mobile versions of Backyard Sports: Baseball and Backyard Sports: Basketball were released, but it’s been quiet on the backyard front since then.
The playful home page for the new games already includes a section for news and videos, as well as a page dedicated to purchasable items like a $185 Pablo Sanchez embroidered baseball jersey or a $45 juice box adorned snapback cap.
No release date has been announced for any new games, and it’s unclear which platforms the new games will be available on.