According to a reliableXboxinsider, the long-rumoured newBanjo-Kazooiegame has been shelved at some point over the last few years.
The last 24 hours have been some of the darkest in Xbox’s history. As I’m sure you’re all aware of by now considering how big the news has been,Microsoft announced that it was laying off over 9,000 employees yesterday, with many of the cuts coming from Xbox’s gaming division.
Since that announcement was made,we’ve found out about several Xbox games that have been cancelled, including Perfect Dark,Everwild, andJohn Romero’s upcoming game. Xbox also confirmed that several unannounced projects have been cancelled, which could include one that fans have wanted for decades.
A Rumoured Banjo-Kazooie Game Has Likely Been Shelved
It Might Not Have Anything To Do With The Layoffs, Though
As pointed out by My Nintendo News, reliable insider NateDrake (also known as NateTheHate) shared a depressing update about the long-rumoured Banjo Kazooie game.In a ResetEra thread discussing the mass layoffs that took place at Xbox, one user pointed out how depressing the day is for Rare, before asking Nate about Banjo-Kazooie.
Despite being the main person reporting on a new game that was being discussed for some time, NateDrake confirmed that he hadn’t “heard an update” on it for a while. The insider is assuming that it’s been shelved at this point, but reiterates that it"did exist" when he spoke about it a few years ago.
Haven’t heard an update on that in a while. I’d assume it was shelved at this stage. It did exist when we spoke of it a couple of years ago. - NateDrake
As sad as it is to hear that we’re probably not getting a new Banjo-Kazooie game anytime soon, it’s worth noting that NateDrake said he hasn’t heard about it for a while. It doesn’t necessarily seem to be linked to the recent layoffs, and might have been shelved some time ago.
Of course, there’s a chance itispart of Xbox’s current state and that a decision was made recently. We simply don’t know enough about what the project was or how it was progressing to be sure, but it still sucks that one of Xbox’s best franchises is back on ice once again.
