Rare hasn’t discussed Everwild much ‘because it’s still playing around with gameplay ideas’

Rare hasn’t discussed Everwild much yet because it’s still exploring how the title’s core themes will translate into gameplay, according to studio head Craig Duncan.

Everwild was officially announced at Microsoft’s X019 event in November 2019, when it was confirmed that the title was still in pre-production.

Set in a “natural and magical world”, Everwild is being helmed by executive producer Louise O’Connor, a Rare veteran who has worked on animation for Conker’s Bad Fur Day and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, and studio creative director Simon Woodroffe, whose last game was Sumo’s Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed.

Providing an update on Everwild in an interview with Polygon, Duncan described it as a “very unique” game.

“We learned a lot from Sea of Thieves,” he said. “At its heart, we love the idea of Sea of Thieves [and] players creating stories together. I think with Everwild, Louise [O’Connor] and her leadership team are really passionate about giving players a world that they can just lose themselves in — you know, a lot of nature feels magical.

Further reading

Rare’s Everwild lead is Fable Legends designer

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“So the notion of, ‘What does it mean to nurture a world? What does it mean to be in nature?’

“Part of the reason we haven’t talked a lot about Everwild is because we’re still feeling a lot of these things out. We’re still playing around with gameplay ideas.

“We’ll have plenty to say in the future on that, but … we have an idea we feel really passionate about, and we think there’s something special. I have a team of people that wake up every morning with the desire to make this game that they’re really, really passionate about.”

VGC understands that Everwild is an ambitious third-person adventure title with god game elements. The title could be shown off during Microsoft’s Xbox Series X games showcase on July 23.

Rare said earlier this week that Sea of Thieves has attracted over 15 million players since launching in March 2018, cementing its place as “the most successful new IP from Xbox this generation”.

Further reading

Rare’s new Everwild trailer lists it as an Xbox Series X exclusive

Xbox offers new look at adventure game