Enduring Play ends Season 2 with Backyard Baseball deep dive

By AI, Created 4:26 PM UTC, May 18, 2026, /AGP/ – Enduring Play is closing its second season with a bonus episode on the revival of Backyard Sports, including rare behind-the-scenes details on Backyard Baseball, reverse engineering and the publisher-developer dynamic. The episode caps a season that nearly doubled its audience without paid marketing and points to a third season planned for late 2026.

Why it matters: - The episode gives a rare look at how a dormant kids’ sports franchise is being rebuilt for a modern audience. - The discussion also highlights how publishers and developers are coordinating to bring back six Backyard Sports titles through reverse engineering. - Enduring Play says the season’s growth shows demand for game development conversations that focus on process, community and scaling ideas beyond a single studio.

What happened: - Enduring Play: A Game Development Podcast ended Season 2 with an 11th bonus episode centered on the Backyard Sports franchise. - Host Cheryl Platz spoke with Playground Productions CEO Lindsay Barnett and Mega Cat Studios CEO James Deighan. - The episode focused on Backyard Baseball and the period between a demo and a full product release. - The conversation covered the relationship between publishers and developers and the work required to restore six Backyard Sports retro titles.

The details: - Lindsay Barnett said the project could change the landscape for children’s and family entertainment and that the team is trying to put fans first. - Cheryl Platz said Season 2 moved beyond direct game development to examine how game development ideas scale through communities, education, research and industry systems. - Enduring Play Season 2 launched on March 3, 2026. - The podcast’s audience has nearly doubled from Season 1 even though it ran with no paid marketing. - The show is on track to exceed 3,000 lifetime IAB downloads once the season is fully counted. - Regular listeners are in the US, UK, Canada, Spain, Germany, Australia, Sweden, Japan, Vietnam, New Zealand, Singapore, Brazil, China and France. - The season’s most-downloaded episode so far is Episode 3, “Putting Playtesting into your Process,” with Steve Bromley and 119 IAB downloads. - Other trending episodes include Episode 5 with Tim Cullings, Episode 6 with Amy White and Episode 8 with Timothy Staton-Davis.

Between the lines: - The Backyard Sports episode works as both a nostalgia play and a case study in modern game revival. - The season’s format suggests Enduring Play is positioning game development as a collective craft, not just an individual creative effort. - Platz’s growing profile adds credibility to the podcast’s audience and helps widen its reach across games, education and event circuits.

What’s next: - Cheryl Platz is touring internationally in support of the book and podcast while continuing full-time game development work. - Her next scheduled stops include Cannes Festival of Creativity jury duty in France on June 21-24, 2026, with a panel appearance on June 24; GCX 2026 in Orlando on July 24-25; the Shawnee Game Conference in Ohio on November 6-7, 2026; and the Global Innovation Forum in London on November 18-20, 2026. - Season 3 of Enduring Play is scheduled to enter pre-production in late summer, with a target release in late fall 2026. - Listeners can follow Enduring Play on podcast platforms for first access to new releases and bonus content.

The bottom line: - Enduring Play is using a niche podcast format to build an audience around the business, craft and community of game development while setting up a new season later this year.