In today’s gaming world, a decade of development can sometimes amount to nothing. Parent company Microsoft has reportedly cancelled Rare’s long-in-development project Everwild. The news comes amid broader layoffs across Microsoft’s Xbox division.
Rare employees will likely be part of the Xbox layoffs, according to Video Games Chronicle. VGC and Bloomberg‘s Jason Schreier were the first to report the game’s cancellation. (Schreier added that an MMORPG project from Zenimax, codenamed “Blackbird,” was also scrapped.)
Rare officially announced Everwild in 2019. But the game had been in development since around 2014. Its trailer finally arrived five years ago, hinting at a lush and magical atmosphere. However, the footage offered no hints about gameplay. That may have been intentional. Its development reportedly suffered from a lack of clear direction.
It was even said to have survived a “restart from scratch” in 2021 when Gregg Mayles took over direction. (He’s known for titles like Donkey Kong Country, Banjo-Kazooie, Viva Piñata and Sea of Thieves.) Xbox explained the lack of official updates by saying it was waiting until it had “something cool to show.”
As recently as February, the game seemed to be on track. Microsoft’s Phil Spencer said, “It’s nice to see the team with Everwild and the progress that they’re making.” Words, words, words…
That brings us to today, with the coda of an all-too-familiar story. Developers lose jobs. Gamers miss out on the chance to play something that had countless resources poured into it. And the gaming industry tightens its belt even further. How much tighter can it get?
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