Over 9,000 people were laid off from Microsoft today following the end of the company's fiscal year. As part of that, Xbox revealed it was shutting down multiple gaming projects, including developer Rare's Everwild.
Rare has been a monumental part of my own gaming experiences, starting as a child with creative hits like Donkey Kong Country, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Banjo-Kazooie, and more.
After being acquired by Microsoft in 2002, Rare went on to release several games, with 2018's Sea of Thieves being its biggest and longest-running hit.
However, Rare has only released one other game since then, and I've been increasingly worried about the developer's future now that Sea of Thieves is getting long in the tooth.
With Everwild being cancelled, I'm more worried than ever, not just for Rare but for Xbox itself.
Xbox Game Studios needs creative new games to flourish — otherwise it's just a game subscription
I was very excited when Everwild was first announced in 2019, because it stood out from most of Xbox Game Studios' other titles, in a way that Rare games often do.
The action-adventure was supposed to center on a magical and colorful world where players work to maintain the balance of nature. Trailers showed off fantastical creatures in various environments, alluding to a vast world filled with exploration.
I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from the game, and that had me excited.
Many other big titles have felt rather cut-and-paste for a while now, and I was hoping Rare's unique flair would add some much-needed life to a somewhat sterile gamescape. But now Everwild's cancellation has me wondering if Rare, and by extension Xbox, is in a bad place.
Don't get me wrong. I've loved many of Xbox Game Studios' latest games, including Avowed, South of Midnight, Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, and I'm stoked for other upcoming Xbox games that are coming down the line. But it takes a spread of different genres and game styles for a game publisher to feel fresh and alive.
Over the last few years, things have been rough just about everywhere when it comes to game development, but especially with Xbox. The pile of studio closures and cancelled projects keeps mounting higher and higher, bringing with it a level of uncertainty across the industry.
Even games that have been received well, like Hi-Fi Rush, aren't immune to closures (thankfully, the Tango Gameworks team was acquired and isn't gone forever).
As Xbox continues to push its "This is an Xbox" campaign and Xbox Play Anywhere on multiple platforms, it feels more and more like the company is turning into a subscription-first service that is a shell of its console-based origins.
Of course, news about Everwild's development has been few and far between, and it has been several years since the title was first announced. So it's very possible there were some problems that proved insurmountable to the dev team, rather than the cut being a decision from on high.
Xbox needs to make us believe in it again
With all of the news about the layoffs, studio closures, and project cancellations, it's hard to know where exactly Xbox is going to be in a couple of years. On top of that, the confusing campaigns and focus on Xbox Play Anywhere make it feel like the company is trying to find its footing in a strong current rather than moving forward.
I really hope this turns out to be a turnaround year for Xbox as we're heading toward the release of the Xbox Ally and the more premium Xbox Ally X PC gaming handheld this holiday season. As part of that, I really hope to see some new story ideas and game announcements come out of Rare and other Xbox Game Studios developers in the coming months, but I'm not sure how likely that will be.
One of the reasons I've been drawn to Rare games my whole life is because they are creative and offer fun experiences I haven't always seen elsewhere. I really hope the developer can continue to use its talented people to continue to create adventures that pull me in and keep me coming back for more. Rare needs it. Xbox needs it.
