Just a month before the release of the new Backyard Baseball (2026) game, Playground Productions confirmed a feature that some of the old games had: playable Major Leaguers. Several marquee MLB legends from the 1990s and 2000s will back for the game that’ll be released in July.
MLB legends coming to Backyard Baseball
Seven longtime big-leaguers who were previously featured in old Backyard Baseball games will be back for the newest installment, which will release in July. Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Kenny Lofton, Jason Giambi, as well as Hall of Famers Jeff Bagwell, Chipper Jones, and Vladimir Guerrero, will be in the 2026 version.
All seven players were in the re-released Backyard Baseball ’01 version, notable since that game included most — but not all — of the original roster from that game. However, no official MLB team logos appeared with the respective players.
It’s been a big week for Playground Productions, which released a cinematic trailer for the upcoming this past week. Additionally, the publisher reiterated that online multiplayer in the game, confirming what was listed when the title appeared on Steam back in February.
Those won’t be the only ex-MLB players in Backyard Baseball, theoretically. Former Los Angeles Angel Cole Tucker will be the voice of Backyard Sports character Ricky Johnson, one of the many fictitious players returning to the game for its reincarnation.
The new Backyard Baseball game will be released on July 9 for Steam on Mac/PC. Playground Productions has yet to reveal a date for when it will be released on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and the Xbox Series X|S.
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