Backyard Baseball 2001 Game Returns With 28 Original MLB Stars
Backyard Baseball ’01 is set to re-launch next week on PC and mobile phones, including MLB marks and 28 of the 31 players who appeared in the original variation, the franchise’s brand-new owners revealed Monday.
The Backyard Sportsseries has been restored under the Playground Productions label after substantial efforts to locate the rights to the innovative PC titles and redevelop the initial code. The latest game– available July 8– likewise needed locating the pros who initially appeared in the game.
Some were easy to get in touch with. Others were harder to find. Play Ground Productions CEO Lindsay Barnett stated the team reached previous Marlin Álex González through players he’s currently coaching, for instance.
“2001 is already some time back, and a few of these players do not live in the U.S. A few of them do not have supervisors or agents or social networks,” she stated. “So we got creative.”
In basic, Barnett said, players aspired to lend their IP rights once again. In some cases, they leapt at the chance to reveal their kids, or grandkids, how huge of a star they as soon as were.
Three players ultimately declined to participate this time around: Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas and Barry Bonds. Bonds– especially– has actually not appeared in MLB computer game considering that opting out of the MLB Players Association licensing arrangement in 2003.
Playground Productions also got buy-in from MLB, allowing for renewed rivalries such as Melonheads vs. Marlins.
“It simply could not have actually been simpler [working with MLB],” Barnett stated. “They truly enjoy this brand name.” She included that the league acknowledges how important the initial releases were to the sport’s efforts to grow.
“There were actually kids who learnt more about baseball through an extremely basic point-and-click game,” Barnett stated. “Now that we get to bring it back, we can begin to catch much more kids who can end up being baseball fans for life.”
Just recently launched variations, consisting of Yard Baseball ’97and Yard Soccer ’98, have found success on gaming platform Steam and iOS, mainly by amusing nostalgic millennials, including those hoping to share their childhood favorites with a new generation. Backyard Baseball ’97likewise recently came to Nintendo Change and PlayStation 5. Mega Cat Studios has been accountable for game advancement.
Play ground Productions is also creating a completely new entry in the series. Though the group has not revealed which sport it will include initially, Barnett said the business intends to continue the crossovers between initial characters and real-life stars– that is, presuming she can get players on board.
In addition to Yardessentials such as Pablo Sanchez and Pete Wheeler, the MLB players readily available in the upcoming 2001 re-release are:
- Jeff Bagwell
- Carlos Beltrán
- Jeromy Burnitz
- Jose Canseco
- Marty Cordova
- Jason Giambi
- Álex González
- Juan González
- Nomar Garciaparra
- Shawn Green
- Vladimir Guerrero
- Tony Gwynn
- Derek Jeter
- Randy Johnson
- Chipper Jones
- Jason Kendall
- Barry Larkin
- Kenny Lofton
- Mark McGwire
- Raul Mondesi
- Mike Piazza
- Cal Ripken Jr.
- . Alex Rodriguez
- Iván Rodríguez
- Curt Schilling
- Sammy Sosa
- Mo Vaughn
- Larry Walker