Update #2 [Thu 10th Oct, 2024 16:30 BST]: The day has finally arrived. Playground Productions and Mega Cat Studios’ reissue of Backyard Baseball ’97 is now available on Steam.
According to the Steam page, the game will be Steam Deck verified after all and will cost £8.50 (or £7.65 as part of its introductory offer).
To mark the occasion, Playground Productions and Mega Cat Studios have also announced 5 more Backyard Sports games are on their way to the digital storefront in the near future. These games can all be wishlisted right now and include Backyard Soccer ‘98, Backyard Football ‘99, Backyard Basketball ‘01, Backyard Baseball ‘01, and Backyard Hockey ‘02.
Update #1 [Wed 25th Sep, 2024 16:15 BST]: Playground Productions and Mega Cat Studios are teaming up to release Backyard Baseball ’97 to Steam, years after the original source code was lost.
The game will be released on Steam on October 10th and was accomplished thanks to Mega Cat Studios hacking a copy of the original CD-ROM to make the title run on modern PCs. According to the publishers, as they don’t have access to the original source, the company is limited in what it can achieve in regards to this new release — for instance, there’s no gamepad support, Steam Deck compatibility, or support for modern MacOS. However, it will introduce Steam achievements, as well as global leaderboards to let you see how you stack up against your friends and strangers online for the first time.
You can wishlist the game now on Steam. Here are some screenshots:
Original Article [Tue 20th Aug, 2024 16:00 BST]: Humungous Entertainments’ classic Backyard Sports series is set to make a comeback “in the coming months”, according to the children and family-oriented multi-media company Playground Productions.
Playground Productions revealed its plans to relaunch Backyard Sports earlier today in an email sent to the press, with all of the assets seemingly referencing the original Backyard Baseball iteration of the series from 1997, implying that it will be the first game to be re-released.
In the press release, Playground Productions also stated that the game will represent “the beginning of [a] broader vision to relaunch Backyard Sports across multiple verticals”, with the company hoping to develop merchandise, as well as film and television projects.
No platforms were actually revealed as part of this relaunch announcement, and no actual gameplay footage has been shown so far. However, Playground Productions has set up a website, where you can join a mailing list to receive more information when it finally becomes available.
We’ll also be keeping an eye out for any announcements as they arrive and will provide an update for you once we know more.