Sure thing. Here’s the re-written article:
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Rare. You ever just think about how some things stick around and others just vanish into thin air? Like, poof, gone. Anyway — wait, no — so, Rare, right? This British gaming powerhouse popped up 40 years ago—August 4, 1985, to be exact. They grew out from this group called Ultimate Play the Game back in ’82. Who’d have thought? Fast forward, they give us bangers like Donkey Kong Country, GoldenEye 007, and Banjo-Kazooie. Oh, and can’t forget Viva Piñata and that pirate thing, Sea of Thieves.
Now, they decided to collab with 8BitDo, cooked up this flashy limited-edition Xbox controller — covered in all those iconic Rare game patterns. And right as this cool controller news dropped, stuff was going down between Xbox and Rare that didn’t really sit well. Timing, huh?
## Xbox and Rare: What’s Even Happening?
So, picture this. It’s 2023, right? Microsoft, Xbox, laying off folks left and right. Seriously, we’re talking thousands. Meanwhile, they’re all like, “Oh, we’re financially stable!” Xbox isn’t moving hardware like Nintendo and PlayStation, but still. You got numbers — 10,000 people in 2023, 6,000 in May 2025. I mean, what’s going on? Phil Spencer, the Xbox boss, says it’s about making things snappier, leaner. But it feels a bit off.
Turn 10 Studios lost 70 people, and King (those Candy Crush peeps) axed 10% of its workforce. Jobs, projects, whole games — gone. Everwild and Perfect Dark reboot, deleted from existence. The Initiative, they just straight-up closed.
## The Everwild Odyssey
Everwild — anyone remember that one? After Rare gave us a new Battletoads in 2020, they teased this magical Everwild thing in 2019. Said they’d let us play in this magical world or something. Fast forward a bit — development in 2014, rebooted in 2021. They dropped a couple of trailers, but honestly, not much to show gameplay-wise. Reminds me of Viva Piñata vibes, which, not gonna lie, intrigued me.
## Rare’s Rollercoaster in 2025
Early 2024, things were supposedly looking good. Spencer took a stroll to Rare’s HQ — twiddled around with Everwild. Reports even said Rare “nailed the gameplay loop.” Whatever that means, right?
Then came the sweeping cancellations. Matt Booty — Xbox Studios head honcho — said they were “adjusting priorities.” Basically, a lot happened, not all good. And the clouds didn’t get any less gloomy when Rare’s brainiac, Gregg Mayles, stepped away after decades with them. He’d been around since the ’89 days of Battletoads.
Now, you’ve got Rare celebrating its 40th year. There’s this shiny controller — but it’s a bit of a mixed bag with all the layoffs, right? But hey, they did get a plaque at Ashby-de-la-Zouch to commemorate stuff. Not all doom and gloom, I guess. Life’s weird that way.
