Oh, hello… didn’t see you there. Here for the new stuff, I imagine? Right you are then. Carry on.

Ahead of the base-spewing trailer brawl of the Electronic Entertainment Expo – which we’ll be gracefully skipping this year – there are a few news-bits of our own to share. Which feels extra apt, almost a year to the day since we first showed our hand with Yooka-Laylee’s big reveal.

With Yooka-Laylee’s Xbox One, PS4 and PC launch in the rear view mirror, the Playtonic team’s focus has turned to our first big game update and beyond. And there’s plenty on the horizon to keep you happy.

Want to hear about some of it? Come along then. Let’s scroll down to the good stuff together…

Ch-ch-ch-changes

In the months since launch we’ve been hard at work on Yooka-Laylee’s first big game update, and we’re pleased to confirm that once our test team is done trying to break it, it will be deploying later this month on PC, followed shortly after on consoles.

This rather plump update will add all manner of exciting gubbins, including the optional ability to skip dialogue faster, bypass cutscenes or reduce those pesky gibberish voices (which should please speedrunners), plus a brand new optional camera mode that gives players full control of where it’s pointed.

We’ve paid close attention to your feedback and hopefully the additions we’ve cooked up will make Yooka-Laylee an even more enjoyable experience, whether you’re playing for the first time or reptile rolling in for a second playthrough.

As promised, you can find a detailed breakdown of the updates we’ll be adding in the list below. In addition to these changes, we’ll also have an extensive list of bug fixes – which should resolve most common issues – when the game update is deployed in the coming weeks.

The Yooka-Laylee Spit ‘n’ Polish Update

Brand new pause menu music

New optional camera mode with minimal assist

Pagies have added signposts to Hivory Towers to help guide players to new worlds

Design tweaks to all arcade games

Speed improvement to scrolling through Totals Menu

New option for shorter ‘gibberish’ voice sound FX

New speech volume option

New ability to speed through dialogue by holding Y

Cut-scenes can now be skipped with Y

New moves section added to pause menu, with image guide

Camera design improvements throughout game (less scripted cameras, door cams now appear behind player etc)

Restart option added in the pause menu during arcade games and Kartos challenges

‘Sonar-able’ objects now have more clear visual identity

Laser move no longer requires player to crouch

Minecart control improvements and new visual effects

Transformation control improvements

Improved first-person aiming controls

New first-person aiming control options added

Improved flying controls

When transformed, collecting butterflies now restores energy

Hunter tonic now tracks the last 30 Quills and Casino Tokens, in addition to the Health and Power Extenders. It will also whistle at the location of the closest rare collectable.

Health UI is now always visible when low

Design tweaks in various areas (Black Hole in One, Gloomy Gem Grotto etc)

New icons added for keyboard/mouse controls

Improved Rampo boss fight

Added PC Display Settings to the in-game pause menu

Performance improvements

Audio improvements

Joy-Construction

We know a lot of Nintendo fans have been waiting patiently for news on the Nintendo Switch version of Yooka-Laylee. To thank you for your support, here’s a glimpse at what a Lizard and Bat look like between a pair of Joy-Cons:

As our first significant game update nears completion, we will soon be entering the Nintendo Switch-specific testing phase. And hopefully, if our test team doesn’t break it too badly, we’ll be in a position to deliver you a final release date shortly after.

We’re also pleased to confirm that all of the important additions and changes contained in our upcoming game update will be included on day one in the Nintendo Switch version of Yooka-Laylee, in addition to the ability to play on the go!

Thanks again for your patience. We’re looking forward to putting Yooka-Laylee for Nintendo Switch in your hands!

J-Law Joins

Please welcome engineer James Lawrence to the Playtonic team!

James started his career in 2004 as an engineer on Xbox 360 launch game Perfect Dark Zero, before eventually going on to work on the Viva Piñata games, Xbox Avatars and more.

James is rumoured to have joined Playtonic in search of his estranged father, a tall man known in the area for his programming prowess and partiality for the odd bit of funny voice acting. No idea who that could be, James.

Welcome to the team.

Community Highlights: History of Everything

This month has seen some truly epic video content from the Yooka-Laylee fan community, not least the exhaustive retelling of the game’s development from Beta 64, which you can see below. Elsewhere there’s a revealing episode of Boundary Break and another incredible music cover from Gabriel Plourde. Stick your eyes on ‘em!