Backyard Baseball ’97 Re-release Excites Fans on Steam
The beloved ’90s PC game, Backyard Baseball, is set to make a triumphant return on Steam on October 10, much to the excitement of nostalgic fans who grew up playing the game. Originally released 27 years ago, the re-release will be available for purchase at a reasonable price of $10, allowing both old and new fans to experience the charm of this arcade-style baseball game once again.
Backyard Baseball holds a special place in the hearts of many sports enthusiasts who spent countless hours playing the game in their youth. The quirky gameplay and whimsical graphics have endeared the game to a generation of players who are now in their 20s and 30s. Some of these fans have even gone on to become professional athletes, such as MLB All-Stars Bobby Witt Jr. and Trea Turner, who credit the game with sparking their love for baseball.
The game’s appeal lies in its ability to transport players to a world where anything is possible. From playing on makeshift fields with empty pizza boxes serving as bases to facing off against neighborhood kids with supernatural pitching abilities, Backyard Baseball offers a unique and entertaining gaming experience that is hard to find elsewhere.
Playground Productions Revives the Backyard Sports Franchise
Former NFL player Jason Kelce, along with his brother Travis Kelce, expressed interest in acquiring the rights to the Backyard Sports franchise to bring it back to life. However, Playground Sports, a children’s media company led by Lindsay Barnett, beat them to the punch and now holds the rights to iconic characters like Pablo Sanchez.
Humungous Entertainment, the original company behind Backyard Baseball, faced multiple mergers and acquisitions over the years, leading to the game’s IP being passed around without much attention. Now, Playground Productions aims to breathe new life into the franchise by remastering the classic games that captured the hearts of so many fans.
Lindsay Barnett, the founder of Playground Productions, shared her excitement for the project, stating, “This was my favorite game growing up. While we’re already hard at work on the future of Backyard Sports, we first want to honor the past by restoring the games that started it all for me and so many others — beginning with Backyard Baseball 1997.”
Mega Cat Studios Remasters Backyard Baseball
Reviving Backyard Baseball proved to be a challenging task for Playground Productions, as the original source code of the game had been lost since 1997. To overcome this obstacle, Playground enlisted the help of Mega Cat Studios to remaster the game for modern PCs.
Mega Cat Studios took on the daunting task of hacking a copy of the game from a CD-ROM and reworking it to ensure compatibility with present-day technology. The successful remaster of Backyard Baseball ’97 paves the way for future collaborations between Mega Cat Studios and Playground Productions to bring back other fan-favorite titles from the Backyard Sports franchise.
As fans eagerly await the re-release of Backyard Baseball on Steam, the partnership between Playground Productions and Mega Cat Studios promises to deliver a nostalgic gaming experience that will delight both longtime fans and newcomers to the franchise. With the legacy of Backyard Baseball being preserved and revitalized for a new generation of players, the future looks bright for this beloved sports game.
