Backyard Baseball is an upcoming baseball video game developed by Mega Cat Studios and published by Playground Productions. It will be the first ever game in the Backyard Sports video game franchise and its Backyard Baseball subseries since 2015 mobile game Backyard Sports Baseball 2015note and the first one for non-mobile devices since 2010's Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers. It also marks the first new video game in the series under Playground Productions after they rebooted the franchise in 2024.
The game basically is one big throwback to the original 1997 Backyard Baseball (also called by its remaster title Backyard Baseball '97) created by Humongous Entertainment, but reimagined for a new era. As with the original, players play games of baseball with a diverse cast of kids known as the Backyard Kids. All thirty of the original Backyard Kids will return, along with commentators Sunny Day and Vinnie the Gooch. The game will have all the game modes from the classic games plus a couple new ones such as "Backyard Derby", a fresh take on home run derbies. Although it takes inspiration from the classic SCUMM-era games,note it will be rendered in 3D as with all Backyard Baseball games since Backyard Baseball for the GameCube.
The game will be released on July 9, 2026, for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. A demo featuring the game's Backyard Derby mode is available for the computer platforms via Steam over here.
It's time to trope out who's a batter and who's a broken ladder!
- Always Night: The game will provide players the option to play games at night, a feature not seen since Backyard Baseball 2005 (2004).
- Art Evolution: The Backyard Kids' models are 3D versions of their original designs from 1997-2002, with various touchups ranging from Kenny Kawaguchi now being a mix of his SCUMM and Yaga-era designs (a redesign Playground Productions has promoted since announcing their reboot), to Angela's skirt and vest now being a one-piece that resembles overalls more. Additionally, their models have much more detailed hair and clothes than the original 2D animations would've allowed.
- Art Shift: The game is rendered in 3D but the opening sequence (which was used for the game's first trailer) is animated in 2D.note 2D artwork of the Backyard Kids are also shown in their baseball cards and in loading screens.
- Bilingual Bonus: One line from Spanish-speaking Pablo Sanchez is, "Mi animal favorito es una cabra," which translates to "My favorite animal is a goat." It's a fitting choice of animal for a kid who often gets called the "GOAT"note in English.
- Bribing Your Way to Victory: Defied; the game's Steam page description outright states that there will be no Microtransactions to give players an advantage or unlock rewards in the game sooner.Our game is packed full of exciting achievements, unlockable characters, and collectible rewards. One thing you won't find: microtransactions. Backyard Baseball is a fully modern game, but when it comes to rewards, we're proudly old-school: earn them!
- Call-Back:
- Jorge Garcia can be seen wearing argyle socks, referencing his argyle vest from his Yaga-era design.
- The game features in-universe Product Placement for Walter Weasel World, the theme park the kids go to in the endings of Football '99 and 2002.
- Cap: In the Backyard Derby demo, the measurement cap for home run distance is 997 feet (a little over 303.88 meters). This also might count as a Mythology Gag as the original game was released in 1997.
- Fantastic Fireworks: Hit a home run far enough on a nighttime field, and the sky will be filled with fireworks, one of which is shaped like the home run hitting batter's head.
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: The reveal trailer for Pete Wheeler plays "Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys, and it still has the line "I got this fuckin' thorn in my side!".
- Interface Spoiler: The character select screen assigns each Backyard Kid an index number out of 33, revealing that there are three Secret Characters to go along with the Original Thirty Kids.
- Mythology Gag:
- Gretchen's pink shirt is a reference to the Inconsistent Coloring between her in-game and promo art clothes in the SCUMM era-Humongous drew her in-game with a white shirt, but promo art showed her wearing pink.
- Stephanie's baseball outfit now has the number 97 on the back, referencing the original game's release year.
- Revisiting the Roots: The game takes heavy inspiration from the original 1997 game, with the main menu being the Backyard Sports clubhouse, the eleven fields (all of which are the original game's fields returning) being seen from faraway with binoculars in the Pick-Up Game window, the Backyard Kids being selected by coaches from some incredibly long bleachers, the four batting and four pitching types having refreshed icons, and so on. Fielding and baserunning will even use the same controls as before with the camera panning up to a fixed point showing a top-down view of the field like in the original SCUMM games. That being said, the gameplay based on the demo feels more like the 2003 Backyard Baseball for the GameCube, later updated and ported to PlayStation 2 and Windows the following year under the title Backyard Baseball 2005 on the latter platform.note Also, the Kids' stats were initially going to be displayed as four balls instead of ten (with the game's demo using this system), but fan requests caused this to be reverted back to the ten-ball system.
- Rhymes on a Dime: One of Kiesha's lines in the character select screen.Kiesha Phillips: Yeah! I'm the reflection of perfection, the number one selection.
- Shout-Out:
- One of Kiesha's character select lines references that one famous pop song from Rick Astley.Kiesha Phillips: Pick me! I'm never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down!
- Her Rhymes on a Dime line is a reference to Muhammad Ali, who tended to do this trope when he's bragging.
- One of Kiesha's character select lines references that one famous pop song from Rick Astley.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Vinnie the Gooch is less sarcastic and more encouraging to the player than in the SCUMM games.