Rare (company)

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Rare Limited
Xbox Game Studios (2002–present)
Websiterare.co.uk

Rare Limited is a British

platform, first-person shooter, action-adventure, fighting, and racing genres. Its most popular games include the Battletoads, Donkey Kong, and Banjo-Kazooie series, as well as games like GoldenEye 007 (1997), Perfect Dark (2000), Conker's Bad Fur Day (2001), Viva Piñata (2006), and Sea of Thieves
(2018).

second-party developer for Nintendo, which came to own a large minority stake in the company, with the release of Donkey Kong Country (1994). Throughout the 1990s, Rare started selling their games under the trademark name "Rareware" and received international recognition and critical acclaim for games such as the Donkey Kong Country series, Killer Instinct (1994), GoldenEye 007, Banjo-Kazooie (1998), Perfect Dark (2000), and Conker's Bad Fur Day
(2001).

In 2002,

Xbox Live Avatar and Kinect, releasing three Kinect Sports games. In 2015, Rare developed Rare Replay, an Xbox One
-exclusive compilation containing 30 of its games to celebrate its 30th anniversary. Rare's most recent game, Sea of Thieves, was released in 2018.

Several former Rare employees have formed their own companies, such as Free Radical Design, best known for producing the TimeSplitters series, and Playtonic Games, best known for Yooka-Laylee (2017). Rare is widely acknowledged in the video game industry and has received numerous accolades from critics and journalists. Rare is also known as a secretive and seclusive studio. Several Rare games, such as Donkey Kong Country and GoldenEye 007, have been cited as among the greatest and most influential games of all time, though some fans and former employees have been critical of the company's output under Microsoft.

History

Founding (1985–1993)

Rare evolved from the company

reverse-engineer the console and investigate the codes for Famicom's games to learn more about the console's programming.[1] With successful results, the company decided to sell the Ultimate brand to U.S. Gold, and ceased game development for the ZX Spectrum in the following year.[2]

The Famicom's manufacturer,

Miami, Florida. Headed by Joel Hochberg, the American company was involved in maintaining Rare's operation in the US and contacting major US publishers.[5] Hochberg was previously the vice president of American arcade manufacturer Centuri.[6] The Famicom was eventually released in North America and Europe under the name Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).[2]

With the unlimited budget, Rare could work a large variety of different games.

arcade in 1994.[10] Several Battletoads games were also ported to some Sega's systems like the Mega Drive/Genesis.[11]

Rare worked on licensed properties such as

Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warship.[11] Rare eventually acquired Zippo Games and renamed them to Rare Manchester.[2] According to Ste Pickford, a Rare team member through the late 80s and the early 90s, Rare just "wanted to make as many games as they could in their 'window of opportunity'".[12] The huge library of games made large profits, but none became a critical success for the company while less creativity and innovation were shown in them.[1]

When the Super Nintendo Entertainment System was conceived, Rare was not yet ready for the change. Rare limited their releases to some Battletoads games and decided to invest their significant NES profit in purchasing expensive Silicon Graphics workstations to make three-dimensional models. This move made Rare the most technologically advanced developer in the UK, and situated them high in the international market.[1] Their priority also changed at that time, as the team decided to focus on quality instead of quantity.[13]

Partnership with Nintendo (1994–2002)

Rare, using the

second-party developer for Nintendo.[1] Rare maintained autonomous operations, green-lighting and designing projects without significant involvement from Nintendo.[14]

During this period, Rare started selling their games under the

development cycle.[15] Rare staff also visited Twycross Zoo, observing and videotaping real gorillas.[15][16] The game was a critical success, with critics praising the game's highly advanced visuals and artstyle.[13] Donkey Kong Country sold over nine million copies worldwide, making it the third best-selling game in the SNES library.[1] The game received several Game of the Year honours and was followed by two sequels, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, as well as several handheld spin-offs such as the Donkey Kong Land series.[1]

Nintendo's stake purchase allowed Rare to expand significantly. The number of staff members increased from 84 to 250, and Rare moved out from their headquarters at the Manor Farmhouse.

16-bit SNES system, and had to downgrade the game's graphics. Killer Instinct sold 3.2 million copies, and was followed by a sequel, Killer Instinct 2.[17] Killer Instinct Gold, the console version of Killer Instinct 2, suffered from a graphical downgrade due to the compression technology used to fit the arcade version onto the smaller Nintendo 64 cartridge.[3]

Rare then developed

split-screen multiplayer was added to the game by the end of its development. GoldenEye 007 was the first console first-person shooter developed by Rare and it was released two years after the release of the film. The game received critical praise and received numerous awards. Goldeneye 007 remained one of the best-selling games for two years, and sold more than eight million units worldwide.[1]

Rare then developed

Banjo-Tooie, was released in 2000.[1] It was a critical success and it outsold the first game, selling 3 million copies.[22]

Upon the completion of Banjo-Kazooie's development, Hollis immediately began another project.

Disney, and assigned Rare to develop several racing and adventure games featuring Mickey Mouse. The project later became Mickey's Speedway USA and Mickey's Racing Adventure.[5] Perfect Dark eventually resurfaced and it was released in 2000 to critical acclaim. The game sold approximately 2 million copies.[26]

Conker the Squirrel also had his own game, originally named Conker's Quest. It was later renamed Twelve Tales: Conker 64; however, the new game was criticised for being too family-friendly and too similar to Banjo-Kazooie.

scatological humour.[5] The game received positive reviews from critics, but was a commercial failure as the game was released at the end of the Nintendo 64's life cycle and was not actively promoted by Nintendo due to its crude content.[1]

After the completion of Diddy Kong Racing, another team was working on a new game known as Dinosaur Planet for the Nintendo 64.[28] However, Nintendo Senior Managing Director Shigeru Miyamoto suggested the team redesign the game as part of the Star Fox series for Nintendo's new console, the GameCube.[29] Unlike previous Star Fox games, Star Fox Adventures focuses on ground-based, open world exploration. The game received positive reviews upon its launch in 2002.[26] Star Fox Adventures was the only game developed by Rare for the GameCube.[29]

Microsoft era (2002–present)

Game development costs gradually increased,

first-party developer for Microsoft's Xbox. Character trademarks from games developed by Rare for Nintendo consoles, such as Conker of Conker's Bad Fur Day and Banjo of the Banjo-Kazooie series, were retained by Rare; intellectual property created by Nintendo, such as Donkey Kong and Star Fox, were retained by Nintendo.[37] This left Donkey Kong Racing, due for release for the GameCube, unreleased.[1][38] 30 employees left Rare during the transition.[11]

Company logo: "Rare" in grey under a stylised green hexagon
2010–2015 logo

Since Microsoft was not part of the handheld video-game console market, Rare continued to develop games for Nintendo

It's Mr. Pants!, a puzzle game originally developed as Donkey Kong: Coconut Crackers.[41] January 2005 saw the completion of this deal with the release of Banjo-Pilot, known as Diddy Kong Pilot before the Microsoft acquisition.[42]

In 2003, Rare released their first Microsoft game,

Diddy Kong Racing DS, a remake of the Nintendo 64 title Diddy Kong Racing which was released in February 2007,[45] and the second being Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise, a life simulation game, released on September 2008.[46] Both games support the Nintendo DS Rumble Pak
.

Rare released

Kameo: Elements of Power. Zero, a prequel to the first Perfect Dark, was originally intended for GameCube before its redesign as an Xbox 360 game. Rare removed several features to meet the game's release deadline in 2005.[48] Kameo: Elements of Power was also intended for the GameCube. A new intellectual property, in it the player character shape-shifts to solve puzzles. Although both received generally positive reviews from critics and sold more than a million copies,[1] they were considered disappointments.[30]

Yet, so much of the money went towards Gears of War, which is going to sell millions anyway. It was a bit of like, "What about the other franchise?" I think we got left in the wake somewhat.

— Software engineer James Thomas, on the marketing campaign for Viva Piñata.[49]

In 2006, the company released Viva Piñata, a game involving gardening. Incorporating elements of several franchises including The Sims, Animal Crossing, and Harvest Moon, it was acclaimed as innovative.[8] The game's commercial performance was a disappointment, however, and some Rare team members questioned Microsoft Studios' large marketing budget for Gears of War and its relative neglect of Viva Piñata.[49] On 2 January 2007, Rare founders Chris and Tim Stamper left the company to "pursue other opportunities". Former lead designer Gregg Mayles became Rare's creative director and Mark Betteridge the company's studio director.[50] That year saw the release of Jetpac Refuelled, a remake of Jetpac for Xbox Live Arcade.[1]

Black, rectangular motion controller
Rare focused on Kinect from 2009 to 2014.

Rare unveiled work on

simulation game, the game was streamlined into what Microsoft executive Don Mattrick hoped would be the Kinect equivalent of Wii Sports. According to a former Rare employee, the team was worried about the game during its development because of Kinect's limitations.[57] Its reviews were average,[59] but it was a commercial success, selling three million units by May 2011.[60] Rare and BigPark, another Microsoft studio, collaborated on the development of a sequel, Kinect Sports: Season Two.[57]

In March 2011, Scott Henson announced that Craig Duncan, who had worked on

Colin McRae Rally series, was hired as senior studio director.[61] Simon Woodroffe, who had worked at several studios (including Adventure Soft, Midway Games, Ubisoft, and Sega), became the studio's creative director in April 2012.[62] A Rare property, Killer Instinct, was revived in 2013. The company had a supporting role in its development, assisting lead developer Double Helix Games.[63] Another Rare mascot, Conker, was also featured in another Microsoft game, Project Spark as episodic downloadable content. Known as Conker's Big Reunion, it was cancelled in 2015.[64]

Rare released Kinect Sports Rivals in 2014. The game was worked on by 150 staff members and a new game engine was developed for it.[65] The game was a commercial failure and following Microsoft's announcement that Kinect would no longer be a priority, about 15 Rare employees were laid off.[66] On 10 February 2015, a group of former Rare employees announced the formation of a new studio, Playtonic Games, and planned a "spiritual successor" to the Banjo-Kazooie franchise titled Yooka-Laylee, which was released on 11 April 2017 with mixed reviews.[67] According to Rare composer Robin Beanland, the year 2015 would be significant for the company.[68] At E3 2015, a new compilation game, Rare Replay celebrating the studio's 30th anniversary, was introduced; it was released in August.[69] The compilation's thirty titles only include games to which Rare owned the intellectual property.[70] Because of this, Rare's operations director Drew Quakenbush explains why GoldenEye 007 is not included in compilation.[71] Rare Replay became the most pre-ordered game shown at E3 that year and received critical acclaim upon launch.[72][73] A new game, Sea of Thieves, a multiplayer adventure game marketed as "The Best Game That Rare Has Ever Made",[74] was introduced at E3 that year.[75] It was delayed at the following year's conference and was released on 20 March 2018. The game received mixed reviews,[76][77] but was a commercial success; in January 2020, Microsoft declared it the most successful IP it released in the eighth generation, with more than 10 million players.[78]

Since 2018, Rare has been working with

Xbox Series X/S.[81] As of January 2020, Rare had more than 200 employees, after growing at a consistent pace for five years.[82]

Culture

According to Mark Betteridge, one of Rare's main goals is to create games people will find enjoyable rather than just to earn profit.[52] The Stamper brothers gave the team considerable creative freedom, although they would intervene if a product was technically flawed or under-performing. Some employees noted that working for Rare in its early days could be difficult, with staff members allowed 30 minutes for lunch and possibly working more than 60 hours a week. Nintendo worked closely with Rare, and their relationship was described as a "creative partnership" by Viva Piñata designer Justin Cook.[32] According to Hansen in 2010, innovation is very important to the company, thus they focus on trying out new technology, such as Xbox 360's Kinect.[83] Historically the company has developed only for video game consoles, never for PCs or arcade units, with the Stamper brothers citing a preference for working on a stable standard format which is specifically designed for playing games.[14] According to Duncan in 2014, Rare would only develop games that had unique ideas, and will never develop a generic game with their intellectual properties.[65]

Everybody likes to create this narrative that Microsoft are evil, but that's not the case – they were very supportive. I guess there were a few people who have since left who thought: 'I wanted to be working on this game or my pet project, and I didn't get to.' And they've kind of painted a picture that it's all Microsoft's fault.

— Gavin Price, former Rare employee and founder of Playtonic Games, about Microsoft.[57]

better source needed] Former Xbox executive Peter Moore voiced his disappointment with Rare's works after the acquisition. He noted that Rare employees were attempting to "recreate the glory years", but their skills had become outdated and were no longer "applicable in today's market".[86] Duncan insisted that there were still a lot of talented people working at Rare, and they will have a "bright future".[65]

Unlike other software developers, Rare acquired a reputation for secrecy; the approach to their office buildings, in Manor Park near Twycross, was monitored by cameras. The company was internally divided into different "barnes", where employees worked exclusively on their group's game.[87][37] According to Tim Stamper,

Rare has a different philosophy. We don't really have much contact with other game development companies and we just do things the way they've evolved. We try to employ people who are great games players and games enthusiasts and they're really interested in seeing the other games we're developing in the company, so it's really a group of games enthusiasts all working together to produce the best games they can – that's Rare.[37]

— Tim Stamper, February 2003 Video Games Daily interview

Though normally secretive, Rare allowed several exclusive tours of its studio by

Xbox Live. Rare refused permission to shoot the film, saying that it was not "on message". MundoRare was shut down, and stated that the site could not support the company's new corporate direction.[84][92][93] Rare's secrecy was criticised by Hardcore Gamer's Alex Carlson, as they thought that it made them "disconnected", and prompted them to develop games that "their fans don't want".[38] When Duncan took over as the studio's head, he intended to change the culture of the studio. Rare's office was completely remodeled so as to facilitate idea sharing between team members. The studio also adopted a more open attitude to its community, with the studio inviting fans to take part in the development project of their latest game Sea of Thieves.[87]

Related companies

Around 1997, a number of Rare employees left to establish separate companies. The first was Eighth Wonder, underwritten by

Deep Silver Dambuster Studios.[96][97][98] In May 2021, Deep Silver reestablished Free Radical Design with original founding members Steve Ellis and David Doak heading up the new studio.[99]

Former Free Radical and Rare staff also formed Crash Labs, a studio specialising in developing

Lift London, a Microsoft studio.[106] Phil Tossell and Jennifer Schneidereit founded Nyamyam and released Tengami.[107] Playtonic Games was founded by several former Rare employees; their first project is Yooka-Laylee, a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie.[108] Chris and Tim Stamper joined FortuneFish, a mobile game company founded by Tim Stamper's son, Joe Stamper.[7] Their first game is That Bouncy Thing! The Rubbishiest Game Ever for Android.[109]

Games

Rare has developed a number of video games since its founding, with sales nearing 90 million copies by 2002.

platform.[citation needed] In 2018, Rare released Sea of Thieves, a pirate-themed open world sandbox game for Xbox One and Windows 10. At Microsoft's X019 event, a fantasy action-adventure title called Everwild was announced.[110]

The company's cancelled projects include

helicopters;[111] Urchin, a Fable-style game which began development after the completion of Live & Reloaded; Ordinary Joe; Savannah, a Kinect-based game; Kinect equivalents of Wii Fit and Professor Layton,[57] a sequel to Diddy Kong Racing,[112] and a sequel to Kameo: Elements of Power.[113]

Awards

Rare received numerous awards, including

Gamasutra's Top 30 Developers of All Time,[118] and was ranked as the 36th best video game maker by IGN.[119] The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum curated a retrospective of the company's work in 2018.[120]

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Further reading

External links