The small Midlands studio is building the ‘spiritual successor’ to Nintendo 64 classic Banjo-Kazooie. But the team still has one eye on its old employer, Rare

Fledgling game studio Playtonic, currently working on a “spiritual successor” to classic Nintendo 64 platformer Banjo-Kazooie, says it knows what Rare is working on – and that fans will be satisfied.

Purchased by Microsoft in 2002, the legendary developer had been creating titles in the Kinect Sports series, but many gamers have been desperate to see Rare return to its glory days, when it produced lively platform adventures such as Donkey Kong Country, Banjo-Kazooie and Conker’s Bad Fur Day. Playtonic, formed by six ex-employees of Rare, still has contact with its old employer, which is based only a few miles away.

“I still chat to them, I know what they were working on when I left last year,” says Playtonic’s studio head, Gavin Price, who worked for Rare for 20 years, having joined as a tester in the 1990s. “It sounds really good.”

Xbox chief Phil Spencer has been teasing gamers by suggesting that Rare may be about to move away from the Kinect Sports titles onto an IP more befitting the team’s skills and heritage. Last year, the exec tweeted that he had played the studio’s new project, claiming it was an example of “Rare building a uniquely Rare game, as it should be.” In January, Rare’s head of music Robin Beanland tweeted that 2015 would be a huge year for Rare and made a reference to Banjo-Kazooie.

“I want them to do well,” says Price. “They’re mates and we left them behind to come and do this. I’m looking forward to what they’re doing next – people will be really happy to see it.” Asked whether it would be a Kinect-focused title, like the studio’s other recent projects, he replied: “I can’t say for sure what they are or aren’t doing with that piece of hardware that Microsoft isn’t supporting much anymore.”

Playtonic recently announced its first title, currently named Project Ukulele, a 3D platform adventure that will stay true to the creative ideals of the old Rare titles. The team has yet to reveal the game’s lead characters, but the action will take place in a series of brightly coloured worlds, that will be open for wider exploration than the old N64 titles.

To this end, Playtonic has introduced a new collectible, known as “Pagies”. Each world in the game is accessed via its own magical story book which resides in the hub area; as players collect Pagies, they unlock new areas to the environment – the more pagies you put into a book, the more you expand the world. However, players can choose to go off an open new books and experience new worlds rather than expand current ones.

“You don’t just go into the worlds, milk them and move on,” says Price. “It will be more open and expansive. There is freedom to go where you want. You can go into another world or you can spend Pagies on your current world and expand it with new areas. I wanted to take away the linearity of the old experiences as much as possible. These days, people want to find their own way through games – and if you go off and explore and don’t get rewarded for it you’re like: ‘shit, I’ve just wasted my time’.”

The team has also talked about including a vast range of non-player characters in Project Ukulele, who will then star in their own spin-off titles. Intriguingly, they have even expressed an interest in working with Rare again in some capacity. “You never know, there are some good old mates of ours down the road, they may want to do a little multi-studio collaboration,” says Price. “We’re just going to be open minded. We’re not trying to look too far ahead. We’ll make the right decision when we get there.”

Rare talent: inside the studio building Banjo-Kazooie's spiritual successor Read more

On the subject of old Rare, the popular story is that when Microsoft took control of the studio, it restricted the team’s creativity, and insisted on a more corporate approach, killing the unique atmosphere. Playtonic denies this.

“For me, it was more about [Rare founders] Tim and Chris Stamper leaving,” says Playtonic technical director Jens Restemeier, who worked at Rare handling handheld conversions of key titles. “There was no sense of progression about what the company was going to do from that point on. The story people want to hear is that Microsoft came in and destroyed everything. It wasn’t like that. They gave us freedom, almost more freedom than Nintendo gave us.”

Chris Sutherland, a 25-year Rare veteran and now project director at Playtonic, agrees. “When any company grows, you’re going to hit problems,” he explains. “At Playtonic, we don’t have an upfront design document, but if you’ve got a company with 50 people then you’re suddenly burning money away and you have to give them something to do and it’s got to be something you know you’ll use.

“Planning up front means you know those people are working, but the downside is you’re locked into a way of working. That’s fine when you’re writing a sequel to something, but if you’re trying to do something original and creative from the start, it’s quite tricky to ask: ‘what’s this person going to be working on in three weeks?’Well, I don’t know what the game is going to be in three weeks! That’s as much of an issue. You see that in any large organisation.”

Playtonic is starting a Kickstarter in May to help fund Project Ukulele. It could be that the game launches within the same window as Rare’s own take on those classic platforming years. Price, however, is adamant that there’s no rivalry. “They’re really nice clever guys, cleverer than all of us,” he says. “They’ll do well.”



