Backyard Sports
Template:Short description Template:More citations needed Template:Infobox video game series
Backyard Sports (originally branded as Junior Sports<ref name="barrelrolled-humongous"/><ref name="dualshockers-humongous"/> and then Humongous Sports) is a video game series released for consoles, computers, and mobile devices created by Humongous Entertainment. The series is best known for starring a diverse cast of fictional children as well as child versions of famous professional sports athletes, such as Albert Pujols, Paul Pierce, Barry Bonds, Tim Duncan, Clint Mathis, Kevin Garnett, Tom Brady, David Ortiz, Joe Thornton, and Andy Macdonald. The Backyard Sports series was previously licensed by the five major professional American sports leagues: Major League Baseball (MLB), Major League Soccer (MLS), the National Football League (NFL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the National Hockey League (NHL), as well as their affiliated players associations. The series has changed ownership and developers several times since Humongous's closure in 2005 and has endured a years-long hiatus from 2010 to 2024 (excluding a brief mobile game revival in 2015), when the franchise was revived by its current publisher Playground Productions.
The series includes five sub-series based on different team sports—Backyard Baseball, Backyard Soccer (association football), Backyard Football (American football), Backyard Basketball, and Backyard Hockey (ice hockey)—as well as the single game non-team sport-based Backyard Skateboarding. In the games, players form a team consisting of Backyard Kids and (in most entries) professional athletes as children, which players take through a "Backyard League" season, attempting to become the champions of their chosen sport. Players can create their own custom characters, starting in Backyard Football (1999). An additional aspect of the games is the use of Power-Ups, allowing players to gain "Super-abilities". For instance, "Super-Dunk" allows a basketball player to make a dunk from nearly anywhere on the court, "Leap Frog" allows a football player to jump over the entire defensive line, and "Ice Cream Truck" causes the other team to be distracted for a brief period.
HistoryEdit
1997–2005: Under Humongous EntertainmentEdit
The series began in late 1997 when Humongous Entertainment, owned by GT Interactive, created the first game in the franchise: Backyard Baseball.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Later, GT Interactive was purchased by Infogrames and was renamed as Infogrames, Inc.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Infogrames allowed Humongous Entertainment to expand the series, and Humongous later developed more titles such as Backyard Soccer, Backyard Football, Backyard Basketball, Backyard Hockey, and Backyard Skateboarding. Following the buyout by Infogrames, these titles from the Backyard series were released for game consoles, including the GameCube, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, and Wii. In 2003, Infogrames, Inc. was renamed as Atari, Inc.
2005–2010: Under Humongous, Inc.Edit
In August 2005, Atari, Inc. sold Humongous Entertainment to their majority parent Infogrames Entertainment SA for shares worth Template:US$. After the sale, Infogrames shuttered Humongous Entertainment and secured the studio's assets to Humongous, Inc., a holding company formed solely for this purpose.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> With this point, newer Backyard Sports titles were developed by other studios for consoles and computers, with Atari, Inc. continuing to hold publishing rights to the series under license from Humongous, Inc. In March 2008, Infogrames purchased the remaining shares of Atari, Inc. that they didn't own and renamed itself to Atari SA the following year.<ref name="buyoutapproved">Infogrames Entertainment S.A. and Atari, Inc. Announce Agreement to Merge: Financial News Yahoo! Finance Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name="buyoutcompleted">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The two Atari businesses continued to release entries in the series within this time.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2013–2020: Post-sale and attempted relaunchEdit
In July 2013, private equity firm The Evergreen Group bought the Backyard Sports franchise during the Atari bankruptcy proceedings for its portfolio company, Epic Gear LLC.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In February 2014, Day6 Sports Group acquired the franchise from Epic Gear.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The company announced to relaunch the franchise in December with Backyard Sports NBA Basketball for smartphones and tablets, with Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry as the cover athlete.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Two mobile games, Backyard Sports: Baseball 2015 and Baseball Sports: NBA Basketball 2015, were released in February 2015, but Day6 did not release any further titles afterward, as the company was acquired by a European investment group in 2016<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and later went out of business in 2020.<ref name="Time Extension Kelce"/>
In April 2019, Humongous's social media pages tweeted an image of the original Junior Sports logo, hinting at a possible re-release of the original games and/or the developer having re-secured the rights to the series proper,<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref><ref name="barrelrolled-humongous">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="dualshockers-humongous">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but a week prior, Humongous replied to a Twitter post saying that they didn't own the rights to the franchise.
2020–present: New ownership and full brand relaunchEdit
After Day6's closure in 2020, the franchise was purchased by Ari Pinchot and Stuart Avi Savitsky via Backyard Sports LLC in 2021. While Backyard Sports LLC owns the trademarks associated with the brand, in 2024, Playground Productions LLC began to work with Pinchot and Savitsky in relaunching the IP across gaming and other verticals.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="PCMag new ownership">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This collaboration was accompanied by an animated trailer featuring several of the Backyard Kids preparing to start a game of baseball.<ref name="Variety Backyard Sports">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Kidscreen Backyard Sports">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The franchise regained media attention in January 2024, when NFL player Jason Kelce, in an episode of his and his brother Travis's podcast New Heights, reminisced about playing Backyard Football and Backyard Baseball, and stated his desire to purchase the rights to the brand to develop a new game in the series.<ref name="IGN Kelce">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Kotaku Kelce">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Time Extension Kelce">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It received further attention that August when Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals used a baseball bat themed after Pablo Sanchez, a popular character in the series, to hit a home run against the Cincinnati Reds during Major League Baseball's Players' Weekend.<ref name="MLB Bobby Witt Jr.">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Playground Productions and developer Mega Cat Studios began the revival of Backyard Sports with a series of remastered classic titles, starting with Backyard Baseball '97, which was released on October 10, 2024, exactly 27 years after the original Backyard Baseball's release.<ref name="Gematsu BB'97 announcement">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="TechCrunch BB'97 announcement">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Playground Productions plans to bring the remasters to mobile devices while developing a new original Backyard Sports title, which is expected to release in 2026.<ref name="Variety November 2024">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="SI November 2024">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite av media</ref>
In early 2025, Playground Productions confirmed to Rolling Stone that they had signed over 60 athletes to rejoin or debut in the franchise, including Barry Sanders, Lisa Leslie, Dan Marino, and Mark McGwire.<ref name="Rolling Stone Feb 2025">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Games in the seriesEdit
| Title | Released | Sport | Developer | Publisher | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Backyard Baseball | October 10, 1997 | Baseball | Humongous Entertainment | Humongous Entertainment | Microsoft Windows, Macintosh |
| Backyard Soccer (Backyard Football in UK) |
September 24, 1998 1999 (UK) |
Association football | |||
| Backyard Football | October 28, 1999 | American football | |||
| Backyard Baseball 2001 | June 6, 2000 | Baseball | |||
| Backyard Soccer MLS Edition | October 3, 2000 | Association football | Infogrames | ||
| Backyard Football 2002 | September 19, 2001 | American football | |||
| Backyard Soccer (Junior Sports Football for PAL) |
September 28, 2001 (US) November 3, 2001 (PAL) |
Association football | Runecraft | PlayStation | |
| Backyard Basketball | October 30, 2001 | Basketball | Humongous Entertainment | Microsoft Windows, Macintosh | |
| Backyard Baseball (GBA) Backyard Baseball 2003 (PC, Mac) |
May 30, 2002 (GBA) June 7, 2002 (PC) |
Baseball | Game Brains (GBA) Humongous Entertainment (PC, Mac) |
Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows, Macintosh | |
| Backyard Football | September 25, 2002 (GBA) October 10, 2002 (GC) |
American football | Torus Games (GBA) Left Field Productions / Humongous Entertainment (GC) |
Game Boy Advance, GameCube | |
| Backyard Hockey | October 18, 2002 | Ice hockey | Humongous Entertainment | Microsoft Windows | |
| Backyard Soccer 2004 | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref>|| Association football || Microsoft Windows, Macintosh | |||
| Backyard Baseball | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref>|| Baseball || GameCube | |||
| Backyard Football 2004 | September 4, 2003 | American football | Atari | Microsoft Windows | |
| Backyard Basketball 2004 | September 4, 2003 | Basketball | |||
| Backyard Hockey | October 9, 2003 | Ice hockey | Mistic Software | Game Boy Advance | |
| Backyard Basketball NBA (Junior Sports Basketball for PAL) |
October 21, 2003 (US) November 19, 2004 (PAL) |
Basketball | Humongous Entertainment | PlayStation 2 | |
| Backyard Baseball (PS2) Backyard Baseball 2005 (PC) |
March 23, 2004 (PS2) June 22, 2004 (PC) |
Baseball | PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows | ||
| Backyard Hockey 2005 | September 21, 2004 | Ice hockey | Microsoft Windows | ||
| Backyard Basketball | September 22, 2004 | Basketball | Mistic Software | Game Boy Advance | |
| Backyard Skateboarding | September 27, 2004 | Skateboarding | Humongous Entertainment | Microsoft Windows | |
| Backyard Baseball 2006 | March 16, 2005 | Baseball | Game Brains | Game Boy Advance | |
| Backyard Football 2006 | September 20, 2005 (PC) October 4, 2005 (PS2) October 18, 2005 (GBA) |
American football | Humongous Entertainment (PC, PS2) Torus Games (GBA) |
Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance | |
| Backyard Skateboarding: Game of the Year Edition (PC) Backyard Skateboarding (GBA) |
October 4, 2005 | Skateboarding | Humongous Entertainment (PC) Full Fat (GBA) |
Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Advance | |
| Backyard Sports: Baseball 2007 | June 12, 2006 (GBA) September 5, 2006 (PS2) September 11, 2006 (PC) April 3, 2007 (GC) |
Baseball | Game Brains | Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows, GameCube | |
| Backyard Sports: Football 2007 | September 26, 2006 | American football | Torus Games | Game Boy Advance | |
| Backyard Sports: NBA Basketball 2007 | November 14, 2006 (GBA) February 13, 2007 (PS2) February 20, 2007 (PC) |
Basketball | Mistic Software (GBA) Game Brains (PS2, PC) |
Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows | |
| Backyard Basketball | September 25, 2007 | Basketball | Mistic Software | Nintendo DS | |
| Backyard Hockey | October 9, 2007 | Ice hockey | |||
| Backyard Football '08 (PS2, PC) Backyard Football (Wii, NDS) |
October 16, 2007 (PS2, Wii) October 23, 2007 (PC, NDS) |
American football | FarSight Studios (PS2, PC, Wii) Torus Games (NDS) |
PlayStation 2, Wii, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS | |
| Backyard Baseball '09 | March 25, 2008 (PC, NDS) June 10, 2008 (PS2, Wii) |
Baseball | FarSight Studios (PC, PS2, Wii) Mistic Software (NDS) |
Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, Wii | |
| Backyard Football '09 | October 21, 2008 (PS2, NDS, Wii) October 29, 2008 (PC) |
American football | FarSight Studios (PS2, Wii, PC) Torus Games (NDS) |
PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, Wii, Microsoft Windows | |
| Backyard Baseball '10 | March 26, 2009 (NDS) March 27, 2009 (Wii) April 28, 2009 (PS2) |
Baseball | Mistic Software (NDS) FarSight Studios (Wii, PS2) |
Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation 2 | |
| Backyard Football '10 | October 20, 2009 | American football | FarSight Studios | Wii, PlayStation 2 | |
| Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers | May 25, 2010 | Baseball | HB Studios (Wii, 360) Powerhead Games (NDS) |
Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, Wii | |
| Backyard Sports: Rookie Rush | October 20, 2010 | American football | |||
| Backyard Sports: Baseball 2015 | February 6, 2015 | Baseball | Day 6 Sports Group | Fingerprint Network | iOS, Android |
| Backyard Sports: NBA Basketball 2015 | Basketball | ||||
| Backyard Baseball '97Template:Efn | October 10, 2024 (PC)
March 27, 2025 (iOS, Android) |
Baseball | Mega Cat Studios | Playground Productions | Microsoft Windows, iOS, Android |
| Backyard Soccer '98Template:Efn | November 27, 2024 | Association football | Microsoft Windows | ||
| Backyard Football '99Template:Efn | TBA | American football | |||
| Backyard Baseball '01Template:Efn | TBA | Baseball | |||
| Backyard Basketball '01Template:Efn | TBA | Basketball | |||
| Backyard Hockey '02Template:Efn | TBA | Ice hockey |
Other mediaEdit
In 2002, a live-action animated hour-long special based on the Backyard Football games entitled Backyard Basics aired on CBS on November 16, featuring the then quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, Donovan McNabb.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 2016, Cross Creek Pictures and Crystal City Entertainment were reportedly in development of a film based on Backyard Sports with producers Brian Oliver and Ari Daniel Pinchot.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> No news about the film has been revealed since.
Playground Productions announced in 2024, along with the announcement of a new Backyard Sports title, that they have plans to expand the franchise into film.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="SI November 2024" />