Latest news with #Banjo-Kazooie
Express Tribune
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Donkey Kong Bananza artist mode sees creative player sculptures shared online
Donkey Kong Bananza has launched on Nintendo Switch 2, and players are already showcasing their creativity using the game's artist mode. This feature, which allows players to sculpt 3D shapes, colour them, and share their creations online, has quickly become a highlight for many. In artist mode, players use rock-sculpting powers within Bananza to design sculptures with the help of Joy-Con mouse controls, enabling detailed crafting beyond traditional joystick use. This control system has made it easier for players to create precise and intricate designs, and as users become more familiar with the system, the shared creations are increasing in quality. Among the creations shared, players have crafted recognisable Nintendo characters such as Donkey Kong, Samus, and Luigi, alongside characters from other franchises, including Banjo from Banjo-Kazooie. Some players have ventured outside the gaming sphere, crafting sculptures of characters and objects from broader popular culture, showcasing the versatility of Bananza's artist mode. However, players are reminded that while the mode allows for freedom, sharing inappropriate sculptures online could lead to account restrictions from Nintendo, which enforces guidelines on shared content.
Metro
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Here's every game cancelled by Xbox after devastating job cuts
Microsoft's latest round of layoffs has ended development on a number of games, ranging from Everwild to an unannounced sci-fi shooter. While Microsoft is no stranger to mass layoffs, its latest round of job cuts have been particularly detrimental to its gaming division. Earlier this week, the company laid off over 9,000 people across Microsoft's global workforce, which is estimated to be around 228,000 people. Something less than half of these cuts were at Xbox, which suggests around 4,000 people within the gaming division may have been affected. A number of studios have reportedly been affected by the cuts, including Call Of Duty developers Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, and High Moon; along with others like Halo Studios, Rare, Blizzard, Turn 10, and The Initiative – the latte of which has been shut down entirely. As part of the layoffs, several projects have been axed across the affected studios. While many other unannounced games have also likely been shelved, which we'll probably never hear about, here's all the confirmed and reported cancellations we know about so far. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. As confirmed in a memo to staff from Xbox Game Studios boss Matt Booty, the reboot of Perfect Dark from developer The Initiative has been axed. The first-person shooter was last shown off at the Xbox Games Showcase in 2024, but has been marred by development issues for years. The Initiative in its entirety has also been closed down. In the same memo to staff, Booty announced Rare's Everwild has also been cancelled. The action adventure title was originally announced in 2019 but little has been seen of it since, and it was reportedly rebooted in 2021. According to VGC, Everwild's director Gregg Mayles has departed Rare after 35 years, in the wake of the game's cancellation, along with producer Louise O'Connor. Mayles is one of the team's most celebrated developers, having directed Sea Of Thieves, Banjo-Kazooie, Viva Piñata, and others. While a new Banjo-Kazooie has never been confirmed, reliable insider NateTheHate claimed a project related to the IP did exist in January last year. However, in a post on ResetEra, after the layoffs, he wrote: 'I'd assume it was shelved at this stage.' It's unclear when exactly the game was cancelled, but with the departure of Banjo-Kazooie co-creator Gregg Mayles at Rare, the chances of a new game in the series have never been more slim. Microsoft's cuts have impacted studios beyond the house of Xbox. Romero Games, the studio founded by John and Brenda Romero, revealed that the publisher of its previously announced untitled first person shooter was in fact Microsoft, and that they had cancelled funding of the project amid the layoffs. According to reports, the studio has been shut down entirely as a result. ZeniMax Online Studios, the creators of The Elder Scrolls Online, were apparently working on a sci-fi 'third person, online looter shooter' codenamed Blackbird. According to reports, the game made a huge impression on Xbox executives in March this year. But that didn't stop them cancelling it and laying off all the developers. At the same time as the layoffs, Blizzard announced it will no longer support free-to-play mobile strategy game Warcraft Rumble with new content. While the layoffs aren't directly cited as the reason why, it's very likely connected, with the developers noting that it 'struggled to find its footing relative to our ambition for its long-term success'. Turn 10, the studio behind Microsoft's long-running racing series Forza Motorsport, has also been severely impacted by the layoffs. According to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, nearly 50% of staff have been laid off as part of the cuts. More Trending As noted on Reddit, former employees have since claimed the studio will remain open but as a support studio for Forza Horizon, which would mean an end to any future Forza Motorsport projects. Activision has a history of doing this with its internal studios and, as in many things lately, Microsoft seems to be taking inspiration from them in this instance. According to Windows Central, Hideo Kojima and Jordan Peele's upcoming Xbox exclusive OD is still in development, despite the cuts. 'At least for now,' the report notes. Every game in June's Xbox Games Showcase is also in the clear, according to Variety. This would include Clockwork Revolution, DoubleFine's Keeper, Grounded 2, The Outer Worlds 2, and Gears Of War: Reloaded. The status of other games are still unclear, namely Contraband which recently had its trailer pulled from YouTube (although reports suggest this might be due to a music licensing issue) and the long-delayed State Of Decay 3. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Games Inbox: Are video games too expensive for young people? MORE: The 10 best video games of 2025 so far – half year report MORE: Video game spending has dropped almost 25% amongst young people
Metro
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Xbox bosses loved a game so much they canned it and sacked all the developers
Microsoft's cull of 9,000 jobs has led to multiple cancelled projects, and one of them has been called 'incredible' by those that played it. Perfect Dark, Everwild, and an untitled game from John Romero are just some of the projects which have been cancelled in the wake of Microsoft's latest round of sweeping job cuts. There's a chance more games have been impacted which haven't yet been detailed (a new Banjo-Kazooie is also rumoured to have been canned) but various reports have highlighted one title in particular as one of the biggest casualties, and no one can understand why it's been canned. The unannounced game in question was being developed by ZeniMax Online Studios, the creators of The Elder Scrolls Online, and is believed to have been so 'spectacular', Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer had to have the controller taken off him during a meeting. Details around the project emerged this week via Xbox insider SneakerSO on NeoGaf, who claimed the cancelled title, codenamed Blackbird, was 'f***ing incredible' and 'had some of the best reactions from folks who played it' for a multiplayer-orientated game following a playtest. 'It takes an absolute truck load to have folks heap praise on an multiplayer playtest in modern times,' they wrote in a thread about the layoffs. 'This game would've been spectacular.' They added: 'This is one of the cancelled games that, by literally every account, sounded like it would've been a slam dunk in literally every sense.' Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. These comments were corroborated and elaborated on by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier. He describes Blackbird as a 'third person, online looter shooter' in a similar vein to Destiny, with a sci-fi noir aesthetic similar to Blade Runner. The key selling point was apparently its 'heavy emphasis on vertical movement', where you use a grappling hook and air-dashing to swing around tall buildings. According to the report, Blackbird had 'blown away' Xbox executives during a demonstration in March this year. According to two people who were in the room at the time, it's said Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer was 'enjoying the game so much' that head of Xbox Studios, Matt Booty, had to 'pull the controller away so they could keep the meeting going'. It's claimed Blackbird's cancellation caused ZeniMax Online Studios boss Matt Firor to 'immediately' hand in his resignation, with his departure confirmed in a note from the studio on Wednesday, July 2. Jo Burba is set to takeover as the new studio head. While no explanation has been given for Blackbird's cancellation, it's been described as an expensive project. Considering the amount of live service games which have flopped over the past few years too, Xbox may have seen it as a risky endeavour. According to IGN, Blackbird, which was slated for release in 2028, had been in development since 2018. ZeniMax Online Studios was building a brand new engine for the game, hence the lengthy development, but it's claimed the team was 'actively ramping up' in the hope of 'moving into full production soon'. More Trending It's claimed Xbox had approved this increase in manpower, as people were being moved from The Elder Scrolls Online team to work on Blackbird, along with those who had been absorbed into the studio from last year's closure of Arkane Austin. According to reports, the entire team behind Blackbird has been cut, as part of several hundred layoffs at the US-based studio. GameCentral has reached out to Xbox for comment. ZeniMax Online Studios, a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media, was acquired by Microsoft as part of a $7.5 billion deal in March 2021. While the studio is primarily known for The Elder Scrolls Online, it also contributed to 2016's Doom and Fallout 76. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Games Inbox: Are video games too expensive for young people? MORE: The 10 best video games of 2025 so far – half year report MORE: Video game spending has dropped almost 25% amongst young people
Metro
03-07-2025
- Business
- Metro
Over 6,000 people have lost their jobs at Xbox in less than two years
The full cost of Microsoft's most recent round of layoffs is becoming clear, as Rare loses one of its most experienced developers. The sweeping job cuts at Microsoft might not have been a surprise but a day after it happened, we still have little in terms of confirmed details. Although the company in general has laid off around 9,100 people worldwide there's no official confirmation of how many roles have gone at Xbox (although we do know that Xbox figurehead Phil Spencer is not leaving). All Microsoft has said, in a comment to Game File, is that less than half of the company's overall layoffs were at Xbox. That would seem to put the figure at around 4,000 – as Microsoft's gaming division bears the brunt of the job cuts. What makes that figure even worse is that Microsoft already laid off 650 Xbox staff in September last year and 1,900 a few months before that. That puts the total number of job losses at over 6,000 people. It was always guaranteed that there would be layoffs as a result of the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and Bethesda before that, with the business average being around 5 to 20% of the workforce, as companies look to cut costs and remove people with similar roles. Activision Blizzard had around 13,000 employees as of 2022 – which would equal 2,600 job cuts at the maximum of 20% – so what's going on here is far more than just eliminating duplicate roles. Microsoft's games business is being downsized and reconfigured, although it's unclear exactly what their goals are now or what Xbox is going to look like when all the dust has settled. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. The upcoming new generation of hardware, which Microsoft has already started hinting at plans for, will complicate things further, while many suspect that this week's new round of layoffs will lead to an increasing reliance on AI tools. In recent years, Microsoft has been pushing AI throughout its business and CEO Satya Nadella is known to be a keen advocate of the technology, even if it's still unclear exactly how it will be used for gaming. It's not certain that Microsoft will ever go into detail about what has happened this week, and who exactly has been laid off, which means at the moment most of the information is entirely unofficial. More Trending Nevertheless, VGC reports that veteran Rare developer Gregg Mayles has left the company, in part because he was director of the now cancelled Everwild. Mayles has been at the company since the late 80s, and worked on Donkey Kong Country, Banjo-Kazooie, Viva Piñata, and Sea Of Thieves. Many other staff have reportedly left at the same time, leaving few from Rare's heyday in the 80s and 90s. Microsoft also cancelled the reboot of Perfect Dark, as part of the layoffs, but although the original was a Rare game the reboot was being made in the US by The Initiative – which has now been shuttered completely. ZeniMax Online Studios, the makers of The Elder Scrolls Online, have not been shut down but a new, unannounced project, that's been in development since 2018, has. This has led to Matt Firor stepping down as head of the studio. More details will surely come out in the coming days and weeks but after contacting Microsoft they stated they have nothing to share beyond this brief statement: 'We continue to implement organisational and workforce changes that are necessary to position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace.' Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Games Inbox: Has Xbox become irrelevant this generation? MORE: Soon you'll be able to pay for DLC and microtransactions in instalments MORE: The 10 best summer video games to play if you're missing the heatwave
Engadget
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Engadget
Everwild has reportedly been cancelled amid Xbox layoffs
In today's gaming world, a decade of development can sometimes amount to nothing. Parent company Microsoft has reportedly cancelled Rare's long-in-development project Everwild . The news comes amid broader layoffs across Microsoft's Xbox division. Rare employees will likely be part of the Xbox layoffs, according to Video Games Chronicle . VGC and Bloomberg 's Jason Schreier were the first to report the game's cancellation. (Schreier added that an MMORPG project from Zenimax, codenamed "Blackbird," was also scrapped.) Rare officially announced Everwild in 2019. But the game had been in development since around 2014. Its trailer finally arrived five years ago, hinting at a lush and magical atmosphere. However, the footage offered no hints about gameplay. That may have been intentional. Its development reportedly suffered from a lack of clear direction. It was even said to have survived a "restart from scratch" in 2021 when Gregg Mayles took over direction. (He's known for titles like Donkey Kong Country , Banjo-Kazooie , Viva Piñata and Sea of Thieves .) Xbox explained the lack of official updates by saying it was waiting until it had "something cool to show." As recently as February, the game seemed to be on track. Microsoft's Phil Spencer said, "It's nice to see the team with Everwild and the progress that they're making." Words, words, words… That brings us to today, with the coda of an all-too-familiar story. Developers lose jobs. Gamers miss out on the chance to play something that had countless resources poured into it. And the gaming industry tightens its belt even further. How much tighter can it get?
