Fans of the Banjo-Kazooie series have had very little to celebrate over the last two decades. Despite appearing in two very successful games on Nintendo 64, the characters have struggled to make a return ever since they were acquired by Microsoft back in 2002. While rumors about a new game in the series have been circulating for years now, it appears the project might be dead. The original source for that rumor was NateTheHate, who was asked about the project’s status in a post on ResetEra. Unfortunately, he didn’t have anything positive to note. The leaker now says he hasn’t heard about the game in a while and “I’d assume it was shelved at this stage.”
It’s impossible to say how far along the game was, and what Microsoft’s plans were. However, NateTheHate tends to be a reliable leaker, so there’s reason to believe something was in the works for Xbox platforms at the very least. We could learn more at some point in the future about this cancelled game; it’s not unusual for concept art and even footage from cancelled games to surface online years after the fact. For now though, Banjo-Kazooie fans should probably assume the worst.
The comments from NateTheHate followed the announcement that Xbox cancelled a new Perfect Dark game that had long been in development. Like Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark was an IP created by Rare during the N64 era. Perfect Dark had also been largely neglected since the Xbox 360, but it looked like that was finally going to change thanks to developers Crystal Dynamics and The Initiative. The game received a lot of focus during the Xbox Games Showcase in June 2024, but this is yet another Rare series that won’t be getting resurrected anytime soon.
All of this news has really come as a disappointment to those who enjoyed Rare’s older games. Since the Microsoft acquisition, Rare has changed quite a bit, focusing far more on the live-service game Sea of Thieves than anything it had worked on during the Nintendo years. Xbox has enlisted developers outside of Rare to work on new games based on the company’s older properties, including a Killer Instinct reboot in 2013 from Double Helix Games and Iron Galaxy, as well as a new BattleToads from Dlala Studios in 2020.
It’s still possible that one day we could see Banjo-Kazooie make a comeback. However, some fans are holding out hope that Microsoft will just sell off the rights to the series to someone that will treat it a little better. There have been hopes that Nintendo could acquire Banjo-Kazooie, since the company put in a good amount of effort with the characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Whether or not Nintendo would have any interest, however, or if Microsoft would even be willing to sell the property, remains to be seen.
Do you think we’ll ever see a new Banjo-Kazooie game? Do you think Microsoft should sell off the property? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
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