PC and Steam users have been surprised with not one, but two classic PC games for free. And there are no catches, nor any microtransactions, nor anything of this sort. Considering the original versions of these games were not free, this is a great and surprising deal. Right now, though, it is unclear what type of Steam Deck compatibility there is, if any.
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More specifically, PC users via Steam can currently grab both Backyard Basketball ’01 and Backyard Hockey ’02 for free. Both were just released on Steam following Backyard Baseball ’97, Backyard Baseball ’01, Backyard Soccer ’98, and Backyard Football ’99. This foursome of games costs $10 each, whereas these two new drops are free. Why they are free, we do not know.
Backyard Basketball ’01
Originally released by the now-defunct Humongous Entertainment in 2001, Backyard Basketball ’01 was the first basketball game in the Backyard Sports series. This new enhanced version, meanwhile, was developed by Mega Cat Studios and published by Playground Productions. So far, it has a 100% approval rating on Steam. Unfortunately, for those who played the original, there is one character missing: Kevin Garnett. Every other pro player, plus all the original kids, are present, though.
Backyard Hockey ’02
Backyard Hockey ’02 was originally released in 2002 by the same studio, and the new enhanced version is handled by the same pair as Backyard Basketball ’01. Like with Backyard Basketball ’01, it was the first hockey game in the Backyard Sports series. Unfortunately, it is missing even more licensing than Backyard Basketball ’01, and it appears not to run great. Both of these things have hurt it a bit in the user reviews.
Compared to Backyard Baseball — and to some extent, Backyard Soccer and Backyard Football as well — Backyard Basketball, and especially Backyard Hockey, were never as relevant. Combine this with the fact that there is some missing content, especially with the latter, and this may explain why the pair is free. This may be a limited-time offer, but if this is the plan, it has not been communicated. What’s more likely is that these are to serve as entry points to compel purchases of the other games and promote the brand-new game that the aforementioned duo is working on.
All of that said, and as always, feel free to leave a comment letting us know what you think, or join the conversation over on the ComicBook Forum.
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