Latest news with #LindsayBarnett
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The return of 'Backyard Sports': What it took to recover lost IP rights and bring back the franchise
Listen and subscribe to Yahoo Finance Sports Report on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. IP revivals are everywhere in gaming and movies right now, but the rights to beloved franchises aren't always easy to track down. Just ask Lindsay Barnett, a former elementary school teacher who made it her mission to bring "Backyard Sports" to modern consoles using several lawyers, a private investigator, and a lot of reverse engineering. The "Backyard Sports" games were an incredibly popular series of desktop PC video games in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The earliest games, developed by Humongous Entertainment, featured a series of cartoon children as possible teammates to recruit, while later installments featured kid versions of some professional players, like Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter in "Backyard Baseball 2001." Though the original franchise ended a decade ago with the release of "Backyard Sports: Baseball 2015" and "Backyard Sports: NBA Basketball 2015," it made a comeback in October 2024 when Playground Productions rereleased "Backyard Baseball '97." As of July 8, fans of the series can now play "Backyard Baseball '01" too. "These games were my favorites growing up," Barnett, founder and CEO of Playground Productions, said on the Sports Report podcast (see video above or listen below). "I was a very sporty little girl in Chicago, and this was the game that made me fall in love with baseball and football. I was looking for great content for kids and especially great games that they could be playing on their computers, and this franchise was nowhere to be found." Barnett, who taught elementary public school in Chicago for nine years, explained that teaching remotely during the COVID era set her on the path to find out how to make these games accessible to children again. "['Backyard Sports'] hadn't had a game come out in almost a decade when I started looking for it," she recalled. "And so I did the normal process of first searching on Google and then asking IP lawyers — and it was not findable. One of the lawyers said, 'Hey Lindsay, you could hire a private investigator to track the rights down.' And that just sounded like a great COVID project. And so I was like, let's do that." She said it took six months to find out who owned the intellectual property rights for "Backyard Sports," but she eventually acquired them for her own production company, which she founded in 2022. Once she acquired the rights to the IP, her company also needed to obtain the rights to the individual pro players who were featured in the games. "We were able to get 28 out of the 31 players, and I was just so excited because, honestly, we did have to go player by player for the majority of them," Barnett explained. "Some of them are in the retired players union ... We wound up hiring an awesome guy named Zach Oliver to help track people down." Getting player rights wasn't the only roadblock Barnett faced while reviving a well-loved IP. She explained that she and her team have been reverse-engineering the code to make it playable on current platforms. "The process of it has actually been quite complicated because we don't have the source code," Barnett said. "It took us a little bit longer to actually reverse engineer and make it possible on mobile. And then through that process, we actually discovered new technology to be able to make it playable on PlayStation and on Nintendo Switch." Two and a half years after her journey started, "Backyard Baseball '97" was rereleased on Steam, bringing the franchise back in full force for fans new and old. The game was later released for iOS and Android in March 2025 and on PlayStation 5 and the Nintendo Switch in June 2025. "Backyard Soccer '98" was also made available on Steam in 2024, and four other games in the beloved franchise are set to be rereleased in the coming years. "We're really inventing a playbook in some ways, which is very exciting for us because we have a big piece of IP that's independently operated, and so we have a lot of flexibility on how we bring things to market," Barnett said. "It's actually quite exciting for us because we're learning a lot, but we're able to do it with the integrity that we all share on our team, which is making sure that we're making great children's family content and we can set our own kinds of standards." Each week, Sports Report with Joe Pompliano coaches you through the latest sports business news so you can play the financial game for financial gain. You can find more episodes on our video hub or watch on your preferred streaming service. Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest stock market news and events moving stock prices Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Remastered ‘Backyard Baseball '97' Heads to Switch, PS5 (Gaming News Roundup)
A remastered version of the classic '90s kid game 'Backyard Baseball '97' made its console debut across Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5 on June 12. In addition to 'Backyard Baseball '97,' Playground Productions (which acquired the rights to the 'Backyard Sports' franchise last year, and has been remastering the original games in addition to developing new ones) will launch 'Backyard Baseball '01' this summer on Steam and mobile devices, and has slated 'Backyard Football '99' for a fall launch. More from Variety Summer Game Fest, State of Unreal, Xbox Games Showcase Highlights and More (Gaming News Roundup) Next-Gen 'Backyard Sports' Game in the Works Pablo Sanchez Returns! 'Backyard Sports' Video Game Franchise Set to Relaunch and Expand Into Film, Television and More 'Whether you grew up playing on a family desktop or are just discovering the magic for the first time, this game's pick-up-and-play charm, funny characters, and nostalgic art style remain unrivaled,' Playground Productions CEO Lindsay Barnett said. 'It's an incredible retro game that celebrates the joy of play, and we're proud to bring it to kids and families everywhere – in the living room or on the go.' See more gaming news from this week in the roundup below. Developer Netmarble has announced 'Project EVILBANE,' a new co-op multiplayer action title. Per Netmarble, ''Project EVILBANE' is set in a dark fantasy world inspired by the narrative roots of Netmarble's acclaimed 'Raven' IP. In this new adventure, players will face a vast and brutal conflict where demonic forces, warlords, and opportunistic factions clash for control. Players will form squads of up to four, teaming up to take on dangerous missions behind enemy lines and influence the outcome of a sprawling, interconnected war. During Apple's presentation at Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on Monday, the tech giant announced it is adding to the list of games that will be available on Mac, including upcoming titles 'Crimson Desert' and 'InZOI,' as well as existing games 'Cyberpunk 2077,' 'Blue Prince,' 'Cronos: The New Dawn,' 'Architect: Land of Exiles,' 'Lies of P: Overture,' 'HITMAN World of Assassination,' 'EVE Frontier,' 'Where Winds Meet,' 'Sniper Elite 5' and more. * 'Poppy Playtime Chapter 4' is coming to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Xbox consoles June 25. The game is available for preorder for $19.99. * 'EA Sports FC 25' and 'Need for Speed Unbound' launched on Amazon Luna Thursday. The games join an expanding lineup of Electronic Arts (EA) titles available on Amazon's cloud gaming platform, which also includes 'Dead Space,' 'Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order,' and 'Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.' During WWDC, Apple unveiled the Apple Games app, which it describes as 'an all-new destination designed to help players jump back into the games they love, find their next favorite, and have more fun with friends, turning even single-player games into shared experiences.' The Games app 'makes it easier than ever before for players to enjoy all their games in one convenient place, and see what's happening across their games including major events and updates so they never miss a moment.' Video game commerce company Xsolla announced the launch of a new podcast content ecosystem designed to 'inform, inspire, and connect the global games industry.' The slate is anchored by Xsolla's 'State of Play' podcast and companion show 'Xsolla Conversations.' The company says its new audio strategy 'seeks to surface meaningful stories, emerging trends, and practical insights from the people building the future of games.' * Gaming hardware and accessory company Razer and food giant Mars Wrigley have teamed up to grow RESPAWN by Razer, a 'gamer-first snack brand and bold cross-industry collaboration,' which marks the first global joint venture for Mars Wrigley in more than a decade. Co-created with the gaming community, RESPAWN has evolved into a strategic business initiative at the intersection of gaming and consumer packaged goods, per Razer. 'RESPAWN is committed to a gamer-first approach and has actively involved the gaming community throughout the product development process to ensure that every aspect, from ingredients to packaging, meets their needs and preferences,' the companies say. 'With bold flavors and a brand ethos rooted in immersion, energy, and edginess, RESPAWN aims to be a gamer lifestyle essential, and not just a convenience, to the millions in the gaming community.' * Xsolla has set a strategic partnership with cross-platform game engine Defold which introduces a 'seamless integration' between Xsolla and Defold-built web games that will allow developers to 'easily monetize' their titles on CrazyGames. FIFA and developer Mythical Games launched new mobile title 'FIFA Rivals' on the App Store and Google Play Thursday. The title 'delivers an arcade-style football experience with gamers building their dream teams and attempting to dominate their rivals by competing in live events and PvP leagues,' per the companies. 'Football is the world's game, and we're thrilled to bring its billions of global fans an experiencethat captures the thrill of the sport, with the accessibility of mobile gaming,' said John Linden,CEO of Mythical Games. 'With FIFA Rivals, we're blending high-energy arcade gameplay withteam-building strategy and actual ownership in gaming. This is just the beginning of what webelieve will become a landmark title in gaming.' * Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? 25 Hollywood Legends Who Deserve an Honorary Oscar
