Rare Comments On Everwild Cancellation For First Time Since Xbox Layoffs

As you’re likely cognizant at this stage, there were a multitude of Xbox layoffs earlier this month spanning various studios and departments, with Rare’s Everwild initiative being completely cancelled as part of the reductions.

Microsoft and Xbox have been largely silent on this matter, despite an internal memo affirming that the game was officially shelved, but now the studio responsible for it (Rare) has released an official video communication.

This communication appears at the beginning of the newest Sea of Thieves developer update, as depicted above.

“Hello everyone. It would seem peculiar to dive straight into our typical updates without addressing the news that we’ve ceased development on Everwild here at Rare. While this hasn’t directly impacted Sea of Thieves, and we are proceeding as previously planned, our priority as a team and a studio is to provide support to our friends and colleagues whose positions are uncertain.

It’s difficult for an event like this not to affect the studio and touch us all in various ways, so we appreciate your understanding. On that note, I just wanted to extend my gratitude to everyone who has reached out to inquire about our well-being and shared their supportive messages. Truly, thank you; it means a great deal.”

We anticipate uncovering more about Everwild’s troubled development in the future, but for now, many questions remain regarding its fate. The initial teaser was unveiled in 2019, yet it fell silent for a couple of years before reports indicated it had been internally rebooted in 2021, and then once again it vanished from public sight.

The latest reports indicated that it was actually in a promising state, and we know they were recruiting for the project as recently as last year, yet it’s clear that Microsoft deemed it insufficient. It’s a heartbreaking scenario for all involved, and we extend our best wishes to the team at Rare.

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