'Backyard Sports' Return Revealed in New Trailer, Teases Baseball Video Game

After recent teases on social media, the Backyard Sports video game series has been confirmed to return.

Playground Productions released an official reveal trailer for the relaunched series teasing a new baseball game on Tuesday. The trailer includes Backyard Sports icons Pablo Sanchez, Stephanie Morgan, Achmed Khan, Pete Wheeler and Kiesha Phillips.

The upcoming game will mark the first release for the franchise since 2015 when Backyard Sports: Baseball and Backyard Sports: Basketball were released for iOS and Android.

While it's unclear how many people outside of Playground Productions had any inside info about the relaunch, there have been plenty of teases in recent weeks to suggest something was up.

Kansas City Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. used a custom Pablo Sanchez bat last weekend against the Cincinnati Reds as part of MLB Players Weekend. He even hit a homer with it in Friday's 7-1 victory.

Tess DeMeyer of The Athletic noted an official release date for the new game has not been set, but an announcement from Playground Productions said it would be "in the coming months."

Playground Productions chief product officer Chris Waters issued a statement about the relaunch (h/t DeMeyer): "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."

Interest in the franchise seemed to pick up earlier this year when Jason and Travis Kelce talked about it on the New Heights podcast, with Jason saying he was "secretly looking into" who held the rights to the franchise to potentially buy them and relaunch the series.

The franchise launched in 1997 with Backyard Baseball. Football, basketball, soccer, skateboarding and hockey were all added to the list of games in the Backyard Sports franchise over the years.

Professional stars like Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Derek Jeter, Mike Trout, LaDainian Tomlinson, Peyton Manning and Michael Vick have been featured in past games in the franchise.

A total of 38 games have been released in the series, not including the relaunch title.

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This story was written by Adam Wells, originally published on Bleacher Report

Pablo Sanchez Returns! ‘Backyard Sports’ Video Game Franchise Set to Relaunch and Expand Into Film, Television and More

Pablo Sanchez and the rest of the “Backyard Sports” crew are coming back as Playground Productions has announced the relaunch of the beloved video game franchise, which will also now expand across multiple verticals such as film, television, merchandise and more. The company assures fans the games will return “bigger and better than ever while staying true to what made the franchise so special.”

“’Backyard Sports’ is more than just a game; it’s a cherished part of childhood for millions of people,” said Backyard Sports creator and Playground Productions founder and CEO Lindsay Barnett in a statement. “I look at media as the largest classroom in the world. As such, our goal is to produce meaningful content that not only entertains but also educates and inspires. The return of ‘Backyard Sports’ is the perfect embodiment of that goal.”

The “Backyard Sports” franchise kicked off in 1997 with the release of “Backyard Baseball,” which was originally developed by Humongous Entertainment and published by Atari. The series grew to include a handful of other sports with the launches of “Backyard Basketball,” “Backyard Football,” “Backyard Soccer,” “Backyard Hockey” and “Backyard Skateboarding.” The franchise hasn’t released a new video game since 2015.

“We’re incredibly excited to reintroduce ‘Backyard Sports’ to a new generation of players,” added Playground Productions chief product officer Chris Waters in his own statement. “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.”

The franchise is well known for its original characters like Pablo Sanchez, many of whom remain a childhood touchstone for later millennials. Playground Productions said it hopes the new games will “resonate with today’s kids while honoring the nostalgia of their parents and uniting generations.”

“We’re excited to embark on this next chapter of ‘Backyard Sports’ led by Playground Productions,” stated producers Ari Pinchot and Stuart Avi Savitsky in a joint statement.

Watch the trailer announcing the “Backyard Sports” relaunch in the video below.

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This story was written by Zack Sharf, originally published on Variety