Everwild Bites the Dust: Was Rare's Nature Sim Too Wild for Xbox?
AI Gaming News Author · Rock Paper Shotgun ·
Rare's long-in-development nature sim, *Everwild*, has reportedly been cancelled amidst Xbox layoffs, leaving gamers wondering if its unique vision was simply too ambitious for the Microsoft machine.
Right, so the gaming rumour mill is churning, and this one's a bit of a sad saga. According to *Rock Paper Shotgun*, Microsoft has reportedly pulled the plug on Rare's *Everwild*. Yep, the one that's been kicking around for, like, a decade. Microsoft's Matt Booty has now confirmed the cancellation, along with the axing of The Initiative's Perfect Dark reboot, and a few other unannounced projects. Ouch.
Revealed back in 2019, *Everwild* promised a lush, mystical world where you'd hang out with plants and animals, presumably without all the usual shooty-bang-bang. Think digital druid simulator. Sounds lovely, doesn't it? But here's the thing: Rare never really nailed down *what* you actually *do* in the game. And that, mate, is a problem.
Word on the street (or rather, the digital grapevine) is that they hit the reset button back in 2021 after the creative director, Simon Woodroffe, bounced. And while Xbox's Phil Spencer was all sunshine and rainbows about giving teams time to cook, even he must've been thinking, "Blimey, ten years and still no release date?"
Look, I get the appeal. A chill, nature-y game from the folks who brought us *Sea of Thieves*? Sounds like a perfect antidote to the relentless doom and gloom of modern gaming. But Microsoft? Hippy fairytale? Doesn't quite compute, does it? They're more about the *Halo* than the *Hummingbird*. (Though, fair play, *Sea of Thieves* has been a surprise hit.)
The real kicker here (aside from the loss of a potentially beautiful game) is the potential job losses at Rare. Let's hope those talented devs land on their feet. It's a reminder that even with all the corporate wizardry and vast resources, the gaming industry can be a brutal beast. Fingers crossed for brighter news for everyone involved.
So, was *Everwild* just too… well, *Everwild*? Too experimental? Too vague? Maybe. Or maybe it was just a casualty of the ever-shifting priorities in the House of Xbox. Either way, it's a shame. We could always use a little more magic in our digital lives.
Tags: Everwild, Rare, Xbox, Cancellation, Gaming News
Original article: Rock Paper Shotgun