Tag: Rare
News Rare Boss To Become New Head Of Xbox Game Studios
The team's current leader is retiring
Rare boss Craig Duncan is set to become the new leader over at Xbox Game Studios, with current XGS head Alan Hartman set to retire, per GamesIndustry.biz. Hartman only took on the role in 2023 after leading Forza developer Turn 10 for a number of years. Duncan will go down a similar route, af
Rumour Everwild Development Is 'Going Well' At Xbox Studio Rare
The game was announced half a decade ago
Almost five years ago now, Rare announced Everwild, its next major title after the arrival of Sea Of Thieves. To this day, we've not really been given a detailed look at the game, but a new rumour suggests that development on the title is now progressing well at the British studio. Coming from Windows...
News Sea Of Thieves Season 13 Has Arrived As Rare Continues To Build On PS5 Success
They're not slowing down!
Thought that Sea Of Thieves going multiplatform would slow down Rare, eh? Not a chance! The team has stuck to its regular update cadence with the arrival of Sea of Thieves Season 13, which is now live on Xbox, PS5 and PC. In this first post-launch season for PS5 players (Season 12 was packed into the PlayStation release),...
News Sea Of Thieves Justifies Multiplatform Release By Charting Again On PS5 In June
Fresh plunder
Another month brings even more Sea Of Thieves success for Microsoft! Rare's pirate adventure, which first launched on Xbox all the way back in 2018, has sold very well on PS5 again in June 2024. In both the US and Europe, Sea of Thieves was in the top five most downloaded PS5 games for the month of June. This follows May's standings,...
News Another Rare Classic Is Now Available On Nintendo's Switch Online Service
Following the successful release of Sea of Thieves on PS5
Rare, the developer behind modern hits such as Sea Of Thieves, is today celebrating the release of another one of its classics on Nintendo's Switch Online subscription service. In case you missed it, this time it's the first-person shooter Perfect Dark. This kind of times into the first...
News Sea Of Thieves Was The Best-Selling PS5 Game In Both The US & Europe Last Month
Sea of sales
Rare's Sea Of Thieves was probably the most high-profile Xbox game to make the switch to PlayStation 5 earlier in the year, and Microsoft's multiplatform move seems to have paid off for the Xbox owner already. In a new post over at the PlayStation Blog, Sony has detailed its software sales charts for May 2024, and Rare's pirate...
News Xbox's Sea Of Thieves Plunders PS5 Charts, Becoming Europe's Best-Selling Game In April
Shiver me timbers
Rare made its PlayStation debut last month with the arrival of Sea Of Thieves on PS5, and it sounds like its pirate adventure is doing quite well on the platform so far. As revealed by Sony in the company's latest PlayStation Blog sales post, Sea of Thieves was the best-selling game in Europe during the month of Apr
News Here's What The First PS5 Reviews Are Saying About Sea Of Thieves
Rare's first-ever PlayStation game is out now
Well, the final entry in Xbox's new four-game-foray into PlayStation gaming is officially out now, with Sea Of Thieves releasing on PS5 today. It's been a long while since the game first came out on Xbox though, so what are the reviews saying about Rare's pirate adventure in 2024? We've already heard...
News Xbox Talks Sustainability Efforts As Rare's New 'Solar-Powered Studio' Is Unveiled
Earth Day 2024 brings new Xbox innovations
As part of Earth Day 2024, Microsoft has broken down a number of new initiatives going on at Xbox right now - including a brand-new "solar-powered studio" at Sea Of Thieves developer Rare. This new studio, also known as 'Barn X', opened last year - and it's since been "certified LEED GOLD for its design...
News Sea Of Thieves PS5 FAQ Reveals How It Compares To The Xbox Version
A few differences of note
We've officially entered the month of Sea of Thieves' PS5 release (which takes place on April 30th), and ahead of that launch, Rare has revealed some more of the similarities and differences between that version and the Xbox version. It's mostly all the same at first glance, with PS5 owners being forced to use a Microsoft...
Random 'Hello Kitty' Xbox Sells For $10,000 On eBay, Despite Being Broken
An ultra rare variant of the OG Xbox
How much would you pay for an ultra rare Xbox console? Earlier today, a special variant of the original Xbox sold for a whopping $10,050 US dollars in an eBay auction - and the console itself doesn't even work! The reason this is so expensive is because it's part of the "Hello Kitty Collector's Edition", which...
News Five More Of Xbox's Rare Classics Are Now Available For Switch Online
But some titles still aren't available on Xbox
Nintendo's latest broadcast revealed both Pentiment and Grounded would be coming to the Switch, but that actually wasn't the only Xbox-related news shared during the Partner Showcase. Five games in Rare's retro library have also made the journey across to the Switch Online service. This includes Snake...
News Four Years Since Its Announcement, Rare Continues To Hire For Everwild
It's not dead, it's resting
Happy 4th anniversary to Everwild! Well, it's kind of an anniversary anyway, as this month marks exactly four years since Rare's new IP was first announced back at X019 in London during November of 2019. We haven't heard much about the project in 2023 aside from a couple of social media posts, but Rare is clearly still...
News Rare's Everwild Potentially 'More Viva Piñata' Than Early Trailers Suggested
"The team there will knock it out of the park, I'm certain"
Rare's next game to launch after the ongoing Sea Of Thieves should be Everwild - at least, that's what we've thought since the title was revealed way back in 2019. We've only seen one more brief look at the game since (trailer up above), however a journalist is claiming that it could be...
News Sea Of Thieves Season 9 Now Live Following '2023 Edition' Xbox Game Pass Release
"Fabulous fortunes await"
Sea Of Thieves is sailing on into Season Nine, with Rare's latest update now live for all of you pirate adventurers out there. This looks like a biggie, with the team adding plenty of new content like expanded voyages, new Chests of Fortune, seasonal rewards and more. Much of Season Nine's new content is detailed in the...
News The Dev Behind This PS5 Exclusive Is Now Working On Sea Of Thieves
An unexpected voyage
Of all the teams you might expect to be working on Sea Of Thieves, Lucid Games probably isn't one of them! The Destruction AllStars developer announced earlier today that it had partnered with Rare on the "legendary voyage". Destruction AllStars, as you may recall, was a PlayStation 5 exclusive back in 2021, and looking back at...
News Rare's Everwild Team 'Warming Up' For 2023 As Work Continues On New Title
"Back in studio this week"
Remember Everwild? Rare's brand-new IP was first unveiled way back in 2019 at this point, and we've been eager to hear more about it since its mysterious reveal. While the team has remained largely quiet about the game over the past few years, we do at least have some confirmation that work on the title is ongoing. Louise...
News Sea Of Thieves Season Seven Is (Mostly) Going Down A Treat So Far
You can now name your ship!
The latest Sea of Thieves season dropped yesterday in the form of Season Seven, and we've seen plenty of excitement surrounding it so far, although there's also been a tiny bit of disgruntlement in the game's community. Season Seven of Sea of Thieves adds Captaincy, which includes the ability to name your ship for the...
News Microsoft Renews Trademarks For Rare IP Viva Piñata & Blast Corps
Business as usual, or something else?
Trademarks and renewals don't always lead to something, but they sure get fans excited whenever there's an older series or game mentioned. With this in mind, Microsoft has apparently renewed trademarks for two Rare IPs. As spotted by Game Rant, the first is Viva Piñata, starting out on the Xbox 360 in 2006,...
News Rare's Everwild Set To Feature A 'Large Scale Multiplayer World'
With "extended Artificial Intelligence systems"
It's been almost two years since we first locked eyes with Everwild, Rare's gorgeous-looking new series. The thing is, aside from its incredibly beautiful art style, we don't really know much about what the game actually is. However, a developer job description at least hints at a few notable...
News Sea Of Thieves Season Six Officially Launches March 10
Solo Sea Forts await
Last week, Rare detailed its 2022 roadmap and what we can expect from season six. The headline addition to Sea Of Thieves' sixth season is Sea Forts, a new type of 'mini raid' intended for single teams. We now know exactly when the feature will arrive. Season six kicks off March 10th, and you can expect Sea Forts to arrive...
News Rare Is Closing Down Sea Of Thieves' Arena Mode Next Month
"We understand that this will be a huge disappointment"
Rare mentioned how 2022 would be the "biggest year yet" for Sea of Thieves during its preview event, but in case you missed it, it's also going to be retiring the game's Arena Mode on 10th March 2022. It's not gone down the best with the game's community, but in a lengthy post over on the...
News Sea Of Thieves' First Narrative-Driven Adventure Begins Today
Available until March 3rd
We've got some notable activity happening in the world of Sea of Thieves today, as the game is launching its first time-limited, narrative-driven adventure called "Shrouded Islands", which lasts from now until March 3rd. The event sees you "meeting the enigmatic Belle and investigating the mysterious fog covering Golden...
News Sea Of Thieves Will Deliver Monthly Story-Driven Adventures In 2022
As part of an "overarching story"
A few days ago, Rare announced that it would be be laying out its 2022 plans via livestream. Well, that stream has come and gone, and this year sounds like a big one for Sea of Thieves. If you're after more story-based content from Rare's pirate adventure, you're in luck. Adventures are coming, new monthly story...
News 2022 Will Be 'The Biggest Year Yet' For Sea Of Thieves
All aboard
Sea of Thieves launched back in 2018 and it's still delivering plenty of content. To showcase the year ahead, developer Rare has announced a livestream event, featuring all things Sea of Thieves for 2022. The livestream, simply dubbed the '2022 preview event', will show an exclusive first look at the game's next season, along with "a...
News Rare's N64 Classic Banjo-Kazooie Is Out This Week On Switch
Another "modern way" to enjoy this title
Update: Rare has passed on the news to Xbox fans that its classic N64 title Banjo-Kazooie is out on the Switch tomorrow. Of course, Xbox fans can still play the title via Game Pass and Rare Replay. Original article [Fri 24th Sep, 2021 03:30 BST]: Rare might have been purchased by Microsoft long ago, but...
News Rare's Everwild Is Reportedly 'A Real Mess', Still Being Figured Out
"The people working on it don't know what's going on..."
We've seen reports over the past year that Rare's Everwild is undergoing a bit of a challenging phase right now — even Microsoft confirmed it back in October — and a new report has stated that the game is "a real mess" at the moment. Speaking on The XboxEra Podcast a few days ago,
News Xbox Provides An Update On Rare's Everwild, Says Reports Of A 'Reset' Are Too Extreme
"We want to get it right"
As we've already highlighted, Head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty appeared on the Kinda Funny Gamescast earlier today, and one of the topics centred around an update on progress for Rare's new IP, Everwild. As you may remember, the game was rec
Random Rare Has A Sea Of Thieves Xbox Controller Table And We Want One
This is booty we want
Game developers always seem to have a lot of cool stuff in their offices. Whether it's life-size statues of their mascots or their classic games displayed for all to see, we're incredibly jealous of the environments they get to work in. Feeding that jealousy even further is this new Sea of Thieves table at Rare's headquarters,...
News Another Everwild Team Member Appears To Have Left Rare
"It's time for a new adventure"
Last month, we heard how Rare's next big game Everwild had reportedly been rebooted, and found out the senior creative designer Gregg Mayles had taken over as project lead. It follows on from the game's creative director Simon Woodroffe leaving Rare last October
News Xbox's Major Nelson 'Apologises' To Rare Developer For Awkward Sea Of Thieves Question
"I feel terrible, but it was a fun moment"
Xbox's Major Nelson had Sea of Thieves executive producer Joe Neate on his podcast last week, and it provided the perfect opportunity for him to "apologise" for an awkward question he asked the Rare dev a few months ago. Back in February, Major Nelson (real name Larry Hryb) casually mentioned that Sea of...
"It could easily slip into 2024 and beyond"
Update: VGC has also supported these claims with their own sources, adding that they too believe Everwild is a 2024 release. Not only that, but it’s said that senior creative designer Gregg Mayles will now lead the project. Mayles credits include Banjo-Kazooie, Viva Piñata and Sea of Thieves - a...
Reminder Rare's Banjo-Kazooie Now Available As A Smash Bros. amiibo
Raring to go!
Well, here's something you don't see every day - the Rare and Microsoft-owned character Banjo-Kazooie has just been released as an amiibo for Nintendo's all-star brawler, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Banjo & Kazooie originally made their debut in Smash Bros. Ultimate in September 2019, as part of Fighter Pass Vol. 1. To this day,...
News Sea Of Thieves Wins 2021 BAFTA Award For Best 'Evolving Game'
Congratulations to the team at Rare
Rare's Sea of Thieves recently celebrated its third anniversary, and now, to top it off - this unique pirate sandbox has been recognised as the 'Best Evolving Game' of 2020 at this year's BAFTAs. It managed to fend off other titles such as Destiny 2, No Man's Sky and
News Rare Celebrates Conker’s 20th Anniversary Today
Maybe one day he’ll return
Conker has hit the big two-zero today, as the iconic platformer celebrates its 20th anniversary. It seems Rare didn’t want to miss out on the celebration, as they’ve shared a 20th anniversary post on Twitter, reminiscing on the cute, foul-mouthed squirrel’s past. They’ve even added some brand new Conker merch to...
News Rare Seeking Senior Designer For Its Next Big Xbox Project Everwild
"Come on down"
It's the beginning of another year and a lot of video game companies are obviously on the lookout for new talent to assist them with upcoming projects. With this in mind, Rare - best known in recent times for its pirate-themed multiplayer game Sea of Thieves - is calling for a senior designer to come and help create its next big hit,...
News Did You Know? Sea Of Thieves Now Has Its Own Monopoly Set
Complete with free in-game DLC
Big fan of Rare's Sea of Thieves? Big fan of Monopoly? Then you're going to love this! The game has been treated to its own limited edition Monopoly set, available exclusively on the Rare store right now. Styled around the locations in the game, this set will see you begin your journey in The Shores of Plenty and...
News Rare Recruits New Senior Graphic Designer For Sea Of Thieves
"I can't wait to work with this incredible team"
Earlier this month, Rare announced its live service game Sea of Thieves was now "bigger and better than ever" with over 15 million players to date after 1,000 days. It's not necessarily smooth sailing keeping a game like this afloat though, and that's why the team at Rare is continually hiring new...
News Sea Of Thieves Celebrates 1,000 Days With A Free Eyepatch Giveaway
Get it while you can!
Can you believe it? It has now been more than 1,000 days since Sea of Thieves set sail on its maiden voyage back in March 2018. According to Rare, the game is now "bigger and better than ever" with over 15 million players to date. To celebrate this special milestone, there's a special commemorative classic pirate cosmetic for...
News Everwild Creative Director Leaves Rare, Studio Issues Statement
“The Everwild team are in good hands..."
We've got some unfortunate news to share about Rare's upcoming IP Everwild, as according to a report from Video Games Chronicle, the game's creative director Simon Woodroffe has resigned from his position at the studio. In response, Rare has confirmed that Woodroofe has left the company, with studio head...
News Rare's Sea Of Thieves Fate Of The Damned Update Goes Live Next Week
Just in time for Halloween
It's nearly Halloween and you know what that means in Sea of Thieves, right? It's time for a spooky event! Well, not quite just yet, but very soon according to Rare. In a tweet over on the official Twitter account, it's been revealed the new update - Fate of the Damned - will set sail next week on 28th October. The...
News New Banjo-Kazooie And Conker Games Up To Rare
Phil doesn't mind what his studios work on
Rare is currently hard at work on its new game Everwild and is still busy providing regular updates for Sea of Thieves. What about some of its older IP, like Banjo-Kazooie and Conker - will any of these characters ever make a return? In the same Kotaku interview, Head of Xbox Phil
News Rare's Banjo-Kazooie Releasing As A Smash Bros. amiibo In 2021
The bear and bird are back
Steve and Alex from Minecraft weren't the only characters under the Xbox Game Studios banner to feature in Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate broadcast yesterday. At the very end of the show, game director Masahiro Sakurai gave fans a first look at the amiibo for the Rare duo Banjo-Kazooie. It'll be arriving in 2021,...
News Spruce Up Your Xbox Profile With These New Rare All-Stars Gamerpics
Who can resist a bit of Banjo?
Feel like freshening up your gamerpic on Xbox One? You're in luck! Legendary developer Rare has added a selection of new gamerpics to the Xbox library from some of its most beloved games over the past 35 years. As you can see from the image above, this includes the likes of Banjo and Kazooie, Conker from Conker's Bad...
News Sea Of Thieves Celebrates The Arrival Of Battletoads With A Toadally Awesome Cross-Promo
Unlock a Rare ship set
Today marks the return of the Battletoads and to celebrate, Rare is running a special cross-promotion with its pirate sandbox Sea of Thieves. If you download and complete act one of the all-new brawler starring Rash, Zitz and Pimple you'll unlock the Fightin' Frogs ship set in Sea of Thieves. Here's a look: Keep in mind,...
Pick One Which Is Your Favourite Game In Rare Replay?
Three decades' worth of great games
It's time for another Pick One! This week, we thought we'd celebrate Rare's 35th anniversary by going back and looking at 2015's superb Rare Replay collection on Xbox One. The game features 30 titles from throughout the company's storied history, including the likes of Banjo-Kazooie, Battletoads, Perfect Dark and...
News Rare Celebrates 35th Anniversary With Soundtracks, Merch & More
Happy anniversary, Rare!
Can you believe it's been 35 years since Rare began back in 1985?! As a result, the company is celebrating with a selection of goodies for fans, including soundtracks, merch and more. Let's start with those soundtracks. Rare has brought together a selection of tunes from its history as part of a 35th Anniversary Collection,...
News It Looks Like We're Getting A Battletoads Announcement Very Soon
Rare teasing fans on Twitter
One of the most notable absentees of last week's Xbox Games Showcase was Rare's Battletoads - a game that was recently rated in both Brazil and Australia, but hasn't been talked about for a while. It looks like that's all about to change, as Rare has begun teasing the game on Twitter. Yesterday, it posted a set of three...
News Rare's Everwild Is 'Unlike Any Other Game That's Ever Been Made'
Aaron Greenberg talks Rare's new IP
Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg has been talking more about Rare's upcoming IP Everwild in an interview with the Spawn on Me Podcast, revealing that it's "unlike any other game that's ever been made." We got our first real look at Everwild as part of last week's Xbox Games Showcase, but even so, we still don't really...
News Rare Hasn't Said Much About Everwild Because It's 'Still Playing Around With Gameplay Ideas'
What can we expect?
Even after Microsoft's big Xbox Games Showcase last week, we still know little to nothing about Rare's brand new IP, Everwild. We've previously heard how the game has been in development for at least three years now, and that it might adopt the games as a service model - similar to
