Alright, let’s take a deep breath and plunge into this, shall we? Picture this: 1985, August 4, some folks in Britain decide to kick off something that would later become Legendary with a capital L. Yeah, I’m talking about Rare. They sprang up from this older gig called Ultimate Play the Game—vibes from 1982—and went on to craft gems like Donkey Kong Country and GoldenEye 007 (classic N64, anyone?). Banjo-Kazooie too. Fast forward, and they’re still at it with Sea of Thieves. So, to mark hitting the big four-oh, Rare buddies up with 8BitDo, and bam, out comes this rad limited-edition Xbox controller. But drama? Oh yeah. Xbox and Rare are in some, how should I put it… sticky situations lately.
So, let’s unravel this juicy mess—Xbox and Rare have been doing some spring cleaning, by which I mean layoffs. Microsoft and Xbox chuck out, like, tens of thousands of employees from 2023 onwards. Seriously, the numbers just keep climbing. You’ve got 10,000, then 2,550, then 6,000, 300, and oh look, 9,000. It’s nuts! Yet, Xbox reportedly is having a blast with more players than ever. Go figure. But hey, the Forza Motorsport peeps at Turn 10 Studios lost a whole chunk of their crew, and poor King, the Candy Crush crew, saw a 10% chop.
As layoffs rip through these dev houses, some eagerly awaited titles just… disappear. Poof. Ever heard of Zenimax’s Blackbird? Gone. The Initiative’s Perfect Dark reboot? Adios. And gulp, Rare’s Everwild? Yep, axed. Perfect Dark getting canned? That nuked The Initiative studio itself! Picture a double whammy there.
Everwild’s tale is a particularly tangled web. Rare publicly teased it with this magical world vibe back in 2019 but then poof, quiet for years until word slipped out here and there. Back in 2021, things were shaking up internally—director leaves, game allegedly rebooted. Everwild was supposed to dazzle by 2024, but we barely even got a sniff of what the gameplay was supposed to be. Bit of a Viva Piñata whiff, some said. Who doesn’t love mystery?
Meanwhile, Matt Booty—cool name, right?—comes from Xbox HQ and tells us these cuts are part of some grand plan to prioritize and focus or whatever corporate lingo they’re cranking out. The industry’s shifting, they say. Well, where does that leave Rare, huh? The ship’s basically captain-less after the longtime legend Gregg Mayles decides he’s had enough. This guy joined up at 18, you know? Designed all those classics from Donkey Kong Country to Sea of Thieves. Rare will miss him, you think?
And what’s Rare left with now? No Everwild, fewer hands on deck, and one big, shiny plaque back in Ashby-de-la-Zouch to remind everyone where it all started. It’s like they wanna jazz up nostalgia while figuring out their next steps—if there are even any left. But, silver lining, there’s a plaque! Yay?
