Gosh, Rare’s been around for like 40 whole years. Crazy, right? Kicked off on August 4, 1985, from this British developer called Ultimate Play the Game. They’ve dropped some legendary games, like Donkey Kong Country and GoldenEye 007. Oh, and we can’t forget Banjo-Kazooie or Sea of Thieves. They’ve been tight with Nintendo and Xbox, making games that people just love.
So, get this, for their 40th birthday or whatever, they teamed up with 8BitDo. Made this fancy wireless Xbox controller with cool designs from their top games. But, the timing? Yikes. I mean, Xbox and Rare are going through some stuff right now.
Okay, shifting gears a bit to the more awkward side of things. Xbox and Microsoft have been laying off folks left and right. Thousands, even though they keep saying they’re doing fine money-wise. Something doesn’t add up. It’s been a bumpy ride since 2023. Like, they laid off 10,000 in ’23, then a bunch more over the next few years. It’s a rough scene.
Anyway — oh, right, back to Rare. So, these layoffs hit the Xbox division hard. Phil Spencer, Microsoft Gaming’s top guy, he’s saying they’re trimming the fat to be more “agile.” But it’s confusing when he also says Xbox is doing great in terms of players and game time. Makes you wonder what’s really going on behind the curtain.
Some games even got canned ’cause of all this. Like, Xbox is saying goodbye to this Perfect Dark reboot and Rare’s Everwild. That Perfect Dark thing was a big deal too. Imagine setting up a whole team just for one game and then… poof, gone.
Let’s rewind to Everwild. Rare’s been tinkering with it forever. Development started way back in 2014 but it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster. They had these trailers that got folks hyped, then it got quiet.
I heard, in October 2024, Spencer popped by Rare’s place in Twycross to play Everwild — things seemed okay-ish then. But boom, not long after, they pulled the plug on it and even let go of some key people, like Gregg Mayles. This guy’s been with Rare since forever, working on hits like Banjo-Kazooie and Sea of Thieves. It’s like a piece of Rare’s heart walked out the door with him.
Amidst all this chaos, Rare’s marking their 40th anniversary with a bittersweet vibe. They put a plaque in Ashby-de-la-Zouch to commemorate where they started. Kind of a glimmer of nostalgia, I guess.
But still — where’s Rare heading now? It feels like an open-ended question. With Mayles gone and Everwild shelved, the future’s murky. Here’s hoping they find their footing again, somehow.
