Backyard Sports animated special in 2026, reissues end
An animated special based on the iconic video game franchise ‘Backyard Sports’ will be released next year.
The project, which marks Backyard Sports IP’s first foray outside of gaming, comes from Playground Productions, the rights holder to Backyards Sports, and is produced by Lighthouse Studios, producer of ‘Bob’s Burgers’ and ‘Rick & Morty’. The voice cast for the special will be revealed in November.
The “Backyard Sports” special will premiere in early 2026 with screenings at Dave & Busters locations in partnership with the chain, ahead of a planned wider release.
Playground Productions unveiled the animated news special “Backyard Sports” during an announcement-packed panel at New York Comic Con Friday, where Playground Productions Founder and CEO Lindsay Barnett, Playground Productions Chief Product Officer Chris Waters and Mega Cat Studios CEO James Deighan were in conversation with Variety‘s Senior Business Writer, TV and Video Games, Jennifer Maas.
Playground Productions purchased the rights to Backyard Sports in 2022 and has since relaunched some of the beloved titles from the 1990s and early 2000s for modern consoles and players. In November, Playground says it will simultaneously launch ‘Backyard Basketball ’01’ and ‘Backyard Hockey ’02’, the two existing ‘Backyard’ games yet to be re-released.
A ‘Backyard Sports’ retro bundle will launch with the November double re-release for $36, which will include ‘Baseball ’97’, ‘Baseball ’01’, ‘Football ’99’, ‘Soccer ’98’, ‘Basketball ’01’ and ‘Hockey ’02’. Additionally, “Basketball ’01” and “Hockey ’02” will be available to download and save for free on Steam, and players who already own some of the retro titles can sign up for Steam’s “Complete the Set” option to automatically adjust prices for the bundle.
Meanwhile, Playground revealed that new “gamification” features have been rolled out for “Backyard Baseball ’97.” Created in partnership with technology company Lucr, features include extensive multiplayer competitions such as Home Run Competitions or Most Strikeouts, a live updated global leaderboard and a chance to win tickets to the 2025 World Series. These new features will be available specifically for iOS users.
