u/Half-Gifts

game's been out a month and it's still a broken, unplayable mess...will there even be a player base remaining by the time it's even improved to become a 5/10 sports game at best? that ai generated, vibe coded roadmap only bought them so much time

It's honestly insane how much effort was put into building hype behind this game: like, literal years of rollouts, collaborations with MLB players, an animated short with recognizable voice actors, and some sort of partnership with virtually every sports gaming youtuber. Where did this budget come from? The Backyard games have always had a cult following, but it seems insane to me that they've been able to put this much effort into marketing compared to any other sports franchise currently on the market. Is there really THIS much demand for a Backyard game? Obviously, there's nostalgia for the series, but I just can't imagine selling someone who's new to Backyard on this game, and most of the rollout has leaned into the nostalgia. And those doing the actual PR seem to have a surface appreciation of the games, too, just spamming lines like "who else thinks Pablo is the GOAT lololol."

I began to feel really cynical about a lot of the pre-release activity as time went on, but I've especially felt it over the past few weeks. What was the deal with the clearly AI-generated Snoop Dogg collab? Every baseball/gaming creator seems to be partnered with Backyard in some way, ensuring that they won't be honest about the game's clear flaws. There's definitely some potential in what currently exists of this game, but everyone seems too blinded by nostalgia--or their conflict of interest-- to admit that it's nowhere near worth the 40 dollar price tag.

I'm really not interested in playing this game, and I'm not really that pressed about it turning out the way it did (it's not much of a surprise to me) but I do find the disparity between the hype and the finished project kind of hilarious. Who was funding this??? Is there any way they'll possibly get a return on their investment? Once the dust settles, I think people are going to see this reboot for the trainwreck it really is. Screenshot this for posterity lol

having to listen to your older coworkers' bits in the office will drive you mad after a while, can't we go like 5 minutes without forcing a verbal eyeroll or bit?