Veteran Banjo-Kazooie, Sea of Thieves Director Gregg Mayles Reportedly Leaving Rare After Everwild Cancellation

Gregg Mayles, the seasoned Rare designer and director, is said to be leaving the studio after yesterday’s large-scale cuts to Xbox staff and projects, including the long-in-development Everwild.

Mayles’ exit, as reported by VGC, concludes a profound career at Rare spanning over 35 years—from the studio’s early days developing games like Battletoads for NES to its N64 golden era, during which he helped craft iconic characters such as Diddy Kong.

Best known as the director of the N64 classic Banjo-Kazooie, Mayles most recently served as creative director on the acclaimed pirate adventure Sea of Thieves. Over the past four years, however, he has been leading Everwild, Rare’s long-gestating fantasy sequel, which will now never be released.

Everwild’s cancellation, now officially confirmed by Microsoft, comes six years after its first public reveal and roughly a decade of development work by Rare. Louise O’Connor, who served as the game’s producer, is also reportedly departing Rare after more than twenty years.

IGN has reached out to Microsoft for comment.

The final Everwild trailer, released in July 2020, carried this description: "Everwild is a brand new IP from Rare. A unique and unforgettable experience awaits in a natural and magical world." Earlier this February, Xbox head Phil Spencer said he had recently visited the studio to review the game’s progress. "It’s nice to see the team with Everwild and the progress that they’re making," Spencer remarked at the time.

Gregg Mayles is reportedly leaving Rare. Image credit: YouTube. But yesterday afternoon, Microsoft officially confirmed Everwild’s cancellation through a company-wide email from Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty. The Initiative’s Perfect Dark reboot has also been canceled, along with other unannounced projects, including a new MMO from The Elder Scrolls Online developer ZeniMax Online Studios.

"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.

"We did not make these choices lightly, as each project and team represent years of effort, imagination, and commitment."