As Rare celebrates its 40th anniversary, a licensed Xbox controller has been listed early on Amazon
It appears to be a third-party 8BitDo controller, rather than an official Microsoft-produced one
A third-party Xbox controller based on developer Rare has been listed on Amazon, with an official reveal seemingly imminent.
As spotted by Reddit user CyraxxFavoriteStylus, the controller has been listed on Amazon’s US site, but at the time of writing has yet to be officially announced by Microsoft, Rare or the controller’s manufacturer.
Rather than one of the numerous official first-party Xbox controllers released by Microsoft over the years, this 40th Anniversary Rare controller is instead made by 8BitDo.
The controller features Hall Effect sticks, ‘Pro Back Buttons’ and is compatible with Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC, Android and iOS.
The controller is also 8BitDo’s first ever 2.4G wireless Xbox controller, according to the manufacturer.
Last week 8BitDo teased on X that it would be revealing its “first wireless controller for Xbox”, with a reveal set for today.
August 4 is usually the day Rare uses for its anniversary celebrations, meaning an official reveal of the controller today (perhaps as well as other announcements) would make sense.
Five years ago, for its 35th anniversary, August 4 was the day Rare’s month-long Sea of Thieves anniversary event started.
Before that, for its 30th anniversary, August 4 was the day its retro compilation Rare Replay was released. It appears, then, that this is the date Rare considers its official anniversary.
The company’s 40th anniversary celebrations come at a somewhat awkward time, given that last month Rare lost several veteran developers as part of widespread layoffs at Microsoft, which saw its long in-development project Everwild cancelled.
Sources then told VGC that Gregg Mayles, Rare’s most experienced and influential game designer, was leaving the company after more than 35 years following the cancellation of Everwild, along with executive producer Louise O’Connor, another Rare veteran whose first project was Conker’s Bad Fur Day for Nintendo 64.
