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Earlier this year it was reported that Sea of Thieves developer Rare had rebooted its new IP, Everwild, and now Xbox Studios boss Matt Booty has shed some additional light on what’s going on. Speaking to Kinda Funny, Booty said there is no cause for concern. He said game development is a highly iterative process with many moving pieces, and it’s natural that Rare’s creative teams would change things up as part of the development process.
“What is Rare known for? They’re known for creating new IP and creating worlds. And I’ll say, when you look at it from the outside and you hear words like ‘reset’ and ‘restructure,’ those are probably a little more definite and a little more extreme than what really happens as a game comes to life,” Booty said.
Rare is focused on making Everwild the best game it can be, and if that means going through some changes, that’s part of the creative process, Booty said.
“They’re just trying to make sure that they’ve got something special. We’ve shown a glimpse of a world, you’ve seen the art style that the team has got, but we want to get it right,” he said.
Booty went on to say that people might be surprised how much of a rollercoaster experience game development can be. If you were a fly on the wall and watched a team make a game, you might be shocked one day and wonder how the game might ever come together, and on the next day you could be overjoyed by how it’s shaping up, Booty said.
That said, Booty said he understands people are eager to see more of Everwild and learn about what type of game it is and what it’s all about, and he hopes to be able to share more when Rare is ready.
Everwild was announced in November 2019. At the time, Rare said the game would give players “new ways to play in a natural and magical world.” Since the announcement, Rare has undergone some staffing changes, too.
Rare’s other ongoing project is Sea of Thieves, which has become a tremendous success with 25 million players.
