14 DAY TRIAL // UK-based video game development studio Rare, the makers of Kinect Sports Rivals, will become an important part of Xbox's future.
Earlier this year, the studio was said to be evaluating its future project and prospects, following Redmond's decision to drop the Kinect sensor from the Xbox One and offer a console package at a reduced price.
With a number of high-profile devs leaving the studio after Microsoft's decision to change the development process at the studio, many were left wondering what its fate would be.
"I'm a Rare fan from the N64 days - that's kind of where my relationship with them was built. The range of genres that Rare exceeded at on N64 was crazy; you go from GoldenEye, to Conker and Banjo, Diddy Kong Racing... they were all over the place and they nailed a wide variety of genres."
"So I don't see them as a 'certain genre' studio: their strength has always been in their diversity," Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft's Xbox division told CVG.
Many players love Rare for its Banjo-Kazooie games and Diddy Kong Racing, classic titles that brought many people a lot of good times, considered by many even better than what Nintendo's first-party studios were able to make during the era.
"When they came to Xbox we did Grabbed by the Ghoullies and the Conker remake. They didn't have tremendous success but I think they were fun games."
"Then they started building out the Avatars - that was really their work - and then frankly Kinect, which they were innovating with before we'd even decided we were going to do something like that. They actually build this kind of wand thing on their own before the Wii came out," Spencer explained.
The head of Xbox continued by stating that he didn't want the Rare brand to be associated solely with Kinect, on account of the fact that the dev's last three games were motion-based, as the studio was much more valuable than that, and it was just pursuing some innovative titles and features.
"I think it's about them thinking about the next game that's going to be the next 'Rare game' and really stand for what they are. So they've got some new ideas, they're excited about them and I think Rare should, can and will be an important part of our game future," Spencer concluded.
It definitely seems that Rare could turn out to become for Microsoft what Naughty Dog has been for Sony, a strong, platform-exclusive developer able to create great games that draw audiences to the Xbox One and Xbox 360.