A big change has just taken place at Xbox, and it is rather historic, especially when you know the players’ attachment for the studio concerned. This is clearly likely to upset the rest of the events.
It’s a little shock in the universe Xbox. And a very large for fans of Banjo-Kazooie or Sea of Thieves. After more than 35 years at Rare, Gregg Maylesone of the most important figures in the British studio, Officially leaves the adventure. A departure that does not fall at random: Microsoft has just canceled several internal projects, including the very mysterious Everwild. And that’s unfortunately not everything.
A pillar of rare delerates its reverence, hard blow for Xbox
For many, Gregg Mayles it was rare. Arrived at the end of the 80s, he worked on Battletoads, Donkey Kong Country, Banjo-Kazooie, ou encore Viva Piñata. More recently, he also directed the creation of Sea of Thievesbecome a long -term success. We could even meet him on Gameblog during our preview on the pirate game. After all these years, seeing him go is turning a real page. And this departure comes from when Xbox restructures some of its studios.
One of the projects that pays the price for this reorganization is Everwild. The game had been announced with great fanfare for Xbox, with a strong artistic direction and an intriguing atmosphere. But after several years of silence and internal restarts, Development is purely and simply canceled. In addition to Mayles, executive producer Louise O’Connor also leaves. A double loss for an already weakened studio.
Rare, but also other studios
Rare is not the only studio affected. At Xbox, several teams have cuts. The Initiativewhich worked on the reboot of Perfect Dark, was completely closed. The project will never see the light of day. Same thing in ZeniMax Online Studioswhere a MMORPG under development was canceled. Its president, Matt Firor, confirmed his departure in stride. The atmosphere is therefore far from being beautiful.
Faced with this series of bad news, Xbox is trying to keep face. In a message addressed to the teams, Matt Booty (Vice-president of Xbox Game Studios) explains that the overall strategy does not change. According to him, Xbox always wants to “create games that make players dream”, “strengthen his flagship franchises” and “invent new worlds”. But in the field, decisions seem to show the opposite. It is often the original projects that jump first.
Source : Xbox
