Rare vet Gregg Mayles departs after Everwild axed

Veteran Rare designer and director Gregg Mayles is reportedly leaving the studio after yesterday's sweeping Xbox layoffs, which also canceled long-in-development projects like Everwild.

According to VGC, Mayles' departure marks the end of his 35-year influential career at Rare – from pioneering NES titles like Battletoads to shaping iconic N64 characters including Diddy Kong.

Best known for directing Banjo-Kazooie before serving as Sea of Thieves' creative director, Mayles spent the last four years leading development on Rare's now-shelved fantasy project Everwild.

Microsoft's confirmation of Everwild's cancellation follows six public years (and nearly a decade of internal development), with producer Louise O'Connor also reportedly departing Rare after 20+ years.

IGN has reached out to Microsoft for comment.

The July 2020 trailer described Everwild as "Rare's magical new IP offering a unique natural world experience." Xbox chief Phil Spencer had praised the team's progress as recently as February.

Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty confirmed Everwild's termination yesterday, alongside cancellations of Perfect Dark Reboot and unannounced MMOs from ZeniMax Online Studios.

"We've halted development on Perfect Dark, Everwild, and multiple unannounced projects," Booty stated, "including closing The Initiative studio."

"These difficult decisions realign our priorities amid industry changes. Each affected team devoted years of creativity and dedication to their projects."