The Xbox Games Showcase begins in just 120 hours; in the lead up to the event we are looking at what to expect from each first party studio - today we look at
Rare.
Acquired in 2002, Rare has seen plenty of ups and downs as member of Xbox. Known primarily for their incredible output on Nintendo consoles, they've been working hard to reach those heights again. Coming into the current generation,
Rare had chosen to focus on Kinect, as they had produced two successful games on 360, with another planned for the launch of the Xbox One. When the Kinect crashed and burned, Rare was forced to return to normal game development - which has been a total blessing.
Rare Replay (2015), a collection of thirty Rare games from the past thirty years was released to celebrate the company.
Sea of Thieves (2018) demonstrated a new direction for Rare, and thanks to continued post release support, it has thrived and provided optimism for the company going forward to push their creative boundaries and provide unexpected new experiences.
Rare currently has a pretty full plate of projects; overseeing
Battletoads in conjunction with Dlala Studios, continuing to support
Sea of Thieves, and of course working on their newest project,
Everwild.
Battletoads seems close to release, recently rated in Brazil, and is currently planned to come to Xbox One. While its has been widely critiqued on the internet, it received generally positive hands on reviews, and with another year of development completed it will be interesting to see how the final product is judged. With
Sea of Thieves continuing to find its niche, there's no signs of development stopping soon. There's like a Series X patch underway and some new content planned to align with the release of the Series S/X. Its been exciting to see
Sea of Thieves power through the critiques of lacking content and attack them head on, a real testament to Rare's dedication. The biggest question is
Everwild, just what is it? Judging by the trailer, and
their own words, it seems to be something truly original and hard to pin down from a comparison standpoint. Its visuals are strikingly similar to
Sea of Thieves, and while there are hints of other players, they don't behave in a manner consistent with live players. We've heard it rumored to contain god elements, but to what extent, and to what end? Now comes the time to beat the drums of the
Banjo-Kazooie speculation, its tradition. Gregg Mayles is currently without a known project, and after last year's Smash Bros appearance, the time to capitalize is now. Whether they are actually working on a game beyond
Sea of Thieves or
Everwild is unknown, but its certainly not beyond the realm of possibility. Its also important to note that while Rare has focused on new IPs, it hasn't abandoned its old ones given the proper idea, or pitch from an outside studio - so a title like
Battletoads could certainly be in development for a different legacy IP.
Rare is going to be at the show, as
Everwild will present itself a little more clearly to everyone. Its been in development longer than most believed, some time in 2017, there should be something to show from a gameplay standpoint.
Sea of Thieves might be absent, or it could be in the pre-show, but seems its not likely to have a slot in the premier Showcase. On a similar note,
Battletoads won't show up either unless it is shadow dropped during the pre-show. So will
Everwild be Rare's only game shown? I think not, I believe another project could be revealed - it could be a remake, a new
Battletoads like partnership, or maybe something totally new. Like every other studio, Rare has been staffing up, and its very possible another game beyond what is known has been in development and is ready to show.
Do you expect to see Rare at the Showcase - If so, what are your hopes? If not, why and when will we see them next?
- 120 Hours Remain -
*If I forget anything or the wording/information is off, feel free to let me know in a post or DM and I'll edit it in; same goes for things you may think I'm unaware of for studios I've yet to post. I try to keep track of everything, but I may lose sight of some smaller things and rumors so all resources are appreciated!
Click the image below to see the posts for each studio that has been revealed so far.