Gregg Mayles Departs Rare Following Xbox Staff and Project Cuts

Gregg Mayles, the veteran Rare designer and director, is reportedly leaving the studio after recent layoffs at Xbox and the cancellation of several projects, including the long-anticipated Everwild.

End of a 35-Year Career at Rare

As reported by VGC, Mayles' departure signals the end of an influential career spanning over 35 years. He contributed to Rare’s early successes with titles like Battletoads for NES and played a pivotal role during the studio's golden era on the Nintendo 64, designing beloved characters such as Diddy Kong.

Legacy of Banjo-Kazooie and Sea of Thieves

Mayles is perhaps best recognized as the director of the N64 classic Banjo-Kazooie. More recently, he was the creative director for Sea of Thieves, Rare's highly acclaimed pirate adventure. Over the past four years, Mayles had been leading the development of Everwild, a fantasy game that Rare had been working on for nearly a decade, but which has now been officially canceled.

Everwild's Cancellation Confirmed

Microsoft has officially confirmed the cancellation of Everwild, which was initially announced six years ago. The game had been in development for approximately a decade. Louise O'Connor, the game's producer with over 20 years of experience at Rare, is also reportedly leaving the company.

IGN has reached out to Microsoft for further comments regarding these developments.

Details from Everwild's Last Trailer

The last trailer for Everwild, released in July 2020, described the game as: "A brand-new IP from Rare. A unique and unforgettable experience awaits in a natural and magical world." In February 2023, Xbox boss Phil Spencer visited Rare to check on the game's progress, expressing optimism about the team's work at that time.

Broader Impact of Xbox's Decisions

On the same day as Everwild's cancellation, Xbox announced a series of major changes in an email from Xbox Game Studios boss Matt Booty. These included the cancellation of Perfect Dark's reboot and several other unannounced projects, such as an MMO by ZeniMax Online Studios, the developer of The Elder Scrolls Online.

"We have made the decision to stop development of Perfect Dark and Everwild, as well as wind down several unannounced projects across our portfolio," Booty wrote. "As part of this, we are closing one of our studios, The Initiative. These decisions, along with other changes across our teams, reflect a broader effort to adjust priorities and focus resources to set up our teams for greater success within a changing industry landscape."

Booty acknowledged the challenges and sacrifices involved: "We did not make these choices lightly, as each project and team represent years of effort, imagination, and commitment."

Contact Information

Image credit: YouTube.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or follow him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social.