Reviewing the New ‘Backyard Baseball’ Game and How to Unlock MLB Players

What’s the new game like, and which MLB players are joining the Backyard Sports crew? We found out.

Pablo Sanchez and the rest of the Backyard Sports gang are back in the new ‘Backyard Baseball’ video game. | Playground Productions

For the first time in nearly two decades, Backyard Baseball has a new game that lives up to the classic originals. Playground Productions CEO Lindsay Barnett has been waiting for this day for years.

Back in 2020, Barnett was working as a public school teacher in Chicago when she began to pursue her dream of creating a children’s and family production company. And as an avid fan of the Backyard Sports series growing up, she aimed to use that company to bring it back into the mainstream.

And bring it back she did. It took a private investigator to track down the rights to the brand and long negotiations with the franchise’s former owners, but in August 2024, Barnett and Playground Productions announced they were bringing back the Backyard Sports franchise. Since then, they’ve rereleased six classic games on all platforms, produced a 12-minute animated special that has 1.2 million views on YouTube, and now, created a new signature game that is available to play everywhere.

The new Backyard Baseball video game, unveiled July 9, plays like a game that belongs in 2026 but it still holds onto the charm of the originals. All 30 original members of the Backyard Sports crew are featured with their unique personalities intact, and all 11 ballparks got a makeover.

Without further ado, here’s my review of the new Backyard Baseball video game:

Reviewing the new Backyard Baseball game

In two words, it’s perfect.

Playground Productions crushed this. The game has a similar feel to the originals—including a similar melody to the theme song with a catchy upbeat twist—and features familiar navigation and game play.

Perhaps the best part of the game is there are no microtransactions, which was confirmed by Barnett in a conversation with Sports Illustrated earlier this week. Buy the game for $39.99, and you’ll get everything—every update, every bonus, every unlockable—for no extra money, just earned through gameplay. That’s pretty rare these days (looking at you, EA Sports College Football 27).

The first thing I did when hopping on the game was go right into league mode. Because if you’re not trying to bring home some hardware, what are you doing?

I chose to be the Mighty Melonheads, because I have taste, and picked the beautiful Steele Stadium so it’d be an easy commute for my guy Ernie Steele. There are four difficulty levels, and I chose the third-hardest level (Playground Pro), because the most difficult level (Backyard Legend) can only be unlocked by winning the championship in league mode. (I’m lucky it remains locked away, to be honest.)

Let’s go Mighty Melonheads. | Backyard Sports

Those decisions brought me to the bleachers to pick my roster: 

It’s time to pick a team for my first try at the new Backyard Baseball game. | Playground Productions

The team: Stephanie Morgan (3B), Pablo Sanchez (SS), Dmitri Petrovich (LF), Mikey Thomas (2B), Pete Wheeler (1B), Ashley Webber (P), Sidney Webber (CF), Kenny Kawaguchi (C), and Ernie Steele (RF).

Who is beating this squad? It turns out, well, everyone.

Unfortunately for myself and the Melonheads, that’s where s--- hit the fan. One of the things Barnett told me during the game’s development is that they made the game easy enough for young beginners to learn how to play baseball, and the hard mode was hard enough to challenge millennials like myself. I can confirm it’s definitely hard enough.

It took me an inning or so to figure out the pitching and fielding mechanics (there’s a timing mechanism setting similar to what you’ll see on MLB The Show), so I was serving up absolute meatballs to the Wombats and getting crushed. The first pitch I threw was blasted for a home run. By the end of the first inning I was getting smoked 11–0 and, through a poor coaching decision, left Ernie Steele out there on the mound to dry. 

Fielding was a challenge, too. The computerized runners are much smarter in this game. You can’t rely on getting the opposing team stuck in pickles to get out of a jam like in the old games. It’s hard! Speedster Pete Wheeler got thrown out trying to steal second base twice in three attempts.

I lost 24-3, which sounds like a horrendous blowout in football. In baseball, I should probably just fold the team. But I didn’t. I played another game and was humbled again (but this time much more reasonably), 7–1.

Despite my ugly 0–2 record to start, the game is an absolute blast. It checks off all the boxes. It’s certainly hard enough. The 3D animation isn’t quite as charming as the early original games, but it still looks, feels and sounds like the heart and soul of the Backyard Sports franchise.

The intro gave me goosebumps:

Backyard Baseball is officially back. I have chills. pic.twitter.com/LoNR9ZAvNq

— Tom Dierberger (@tomdierberger) July 9, 2026

Now, I just need to figure out how to win a game ...

How to unlock MLB players in the new Backyard Baseball game

While players have access to the 30 original Backyard Sports characters right away, there are 15 characters that are unlockable through achievements in the game. Seven of those unlockable characters are former big leaguers who were featured in the classic Backyard Baseball 2001. The list:

• Jeff Bagwell
• Jason Giambi
• Vladimir Guerrero Sr.
• Chipper Jones
• Kenny Lofton
• Mark McGwire
• Sammy Sosa

Now, how can you unlock those guys?

“We have seven unlockable pros that were in [the 2001 game],” Barnett told Sports Illustrated. “You get them actually based on some of their achievements based in real life. You hit a certain amount of home runs, you get to unlock this character. People who are hardcore baseball fans might actually make some connections between the stats that are real and when they actually get these players.”

Hopefully this doesn’t mean I need to hit 609 home runs to unlock Sammy Sosa, because based on my first 24 hours with the game, I might never get there.

Will there be current-day pros in the game eventually? It sure sounds like it.

“There definitely is a good chance of that,” Barnett said. “I think that people are going to be able to see some things sooner rather than later.”

I’m giving this new Backyard Baseball video game an “A” grade. It’s going to introduce the franchise to a whole new generation (my 14-month-old daughter, included) all while being challenging enough to please (or frustrate?) old millennials like myself. Well done, Playground Productions.

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