Latest Reviews of Rare Games
Review Sea Of Thieves - In Truly Ship-Shape Condition Two Years After Launch
It's a pirate's life for me
When Sea of Thieves initially set sail in 2018, it was met with somewhat mixed reviews. Rare's pirate playground is undoubtedly a masterful creation; a vast, dynamic, hyper-stylised sea world dotted with mysterious islands and skeleton forts in which players are set free to create their own grand adventures. However, it...
From Rare with love
To celebrate its 30th year as a developer, Rare has crammed 30 of its games into a single package for just $30. Not only does that make for a brilliantly-coordinated promotion, it also makes for a value almost unheard of for a new release. Instead of breaking down each individual game in this collection, which would push us well...
Review Kinect Sports Rivals (Xbox One)
Do or die.
To say that Kinect Sports Rivals is a high-profile title for Xbox One would be something of an understatement. Being the only game (barring the violently bad Fighter Within, which barely passes as a game) available that’s been designed for the much-maligned Kinect device that’s included with every console, people were looking to...
Review Kinect Sports: Season Two (Xbox 360)
The best just got better
Despite posting impressive sales figures and delivering some engaging titles, Kinect has arguably struggled to find that elusive ‘killer app’ that is capable of convincing both casual and hardcore gamers of its worth. While the original Kinect Sports was a fantastic grounding in Microsoft’s brave controller-free world,...
Review Kinect Sports (Xbox 360)
Will it Kinect with sports fans?
While we've seen very different approaches from the various console makers when it comes to their motion control systems, the one constant seems to be the obligatory sports compilation release that goes along with it. With the release of Kinect Sports, Rare has put together a nice variety of sporting events to show...
Popular Rare Games
Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise Xbox 360
- 2nd Sep 2008 (NA)
- 5th Sep 2008 (UK/EU)
- 21st Jun 2005 (NA)
- 24th Jun 2005 (UK/EU)
- 30th Jun 2005 (JPN)
Kameo: Elements of Power Xbox 360
- 22nd Nov 2005 (NA)
- 2nd Dec 2005 (UK/EU)
- 2nd Feb 2006 (JPN)
Latest Rare News
Arguably the best way to play the game
We've talked quite a lot about Evercade in the past here at Pure Xbox, including how the company is releasing new versions of Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie and DOOM around its launch of the Evercade Nexus console later this month. For those who aren't aware, Evercade is a platform where old games are relicensed...
Report Xbox Studio 'Rare' Working On Various Projects, But Activision Will Decide Their Future
"Rare is a unique studio in Microsoft’s portfolio."
One of the big surprises of the Xbox reorganisation announcement this week was that legendary studio Rare was being transitioned to Activision rather than remaining under the Xbox Game Studios banner, effective immediately. This doesn't mean a whole lot on the face of it — Rare remains an...
News Activision Issues Statement After Taking On Some Of The Biggest IP In Xbox History
Halo, Rare and World's Edge now fall under the Activision banner
There's been a whole bunch of news today amidst job cuts and studio reorganisations over at Xbox, and one of the big stories is that Activision is now becoming responsible for Rare, World's Edge and making a new Halo game. It remains to be seen what kind of role Activision will have...
News Xbox Has Begun Licensing Old Games For Physical Cartridges, And More Are Coming In 2026
Two have arrived so far, with others already confirmed
To kick off the new year, I recently got into the Evercade ecosystem by purchasing an Evercade Alpha bartop arcade, and although I was aware of Evercade and how the company licenses retro games to re-release on physical cartridges, it hadn't dawned on me that Xbox is now essentially part of it...
News Xbox Studio Rare Is Getting Inundated With Requests For A New Banjo-Kazooie Game
Following the "Mumbomania" project in Dreams for PS5
Alright, so you probably saw the news about this "Banjo-Kazooie: Mumbomania" project that was cross-posted to Pure Xbox by our friends at Push Square yesterday - a game made in Dreams for PS5 that's gone viral this week. The gist is that someone made their own version of Banjo-Kazooie inside of...
8BitDo's first wireless Xbox pad is worth every jiggy
8BitDo has certainly come a long way since the days of creating clones of NES and SNES controllers – it is now one of the most respected accessory makers in the world and has even produced officially licensed sticks and pads for the Xbox family of consoles. The company's latest offering –...
News Everwild Screenshots Leak Online Several Months After Xbox Cancellation
Featuring gameplay & UI elements!
Back in July, as part of broader layoffs at Microsoft, Rare's Everwild was cancelled after more than five years in the making - and now a selection of in-development screenshots have been shared online; giving us an idea of what the Sea Of Thieves developer was looking to build with
News Xbox Adds New Dynamic Background & Gamerpics For Rare's 40th Birthday
Rare's big day
As we just unveiled elsewhere on Pure Xbox, we have some goodies being announced today to celebrate the 40th anniversary of developer Rare - and those goodies also include a batch of fresh gamerpics and a new dynamic background on Xbox Series X|S. <related ids="185925"> Yep, to celebrate 40 years of the famous Xbox studio,...
News 8BitDo Unveils Its First Xbox Wireless Controller To Celebrate Rare's 40th Anniversary
Officially licensed by Xbox and Rare
The good folks at 8BitDo are back with another Xbox controller, but this time there's a big difference - not only is it the company's first wireless Xbox controller to hit the market, but it's also celebrating the 40th anniversary of Rare! In addition to both wired and wireless compatibility with Xbox One, Xbox...
News Rare Comments On Everwild Cancellation For First Time Since Xbox Layoffs
"It's impossible for something like this not to ripple through the studio"
As you're probably well aware at this point, there were a whole bunch of Xbox layoffs earlier this month across multiple studios and divisions, and Rare's Everwild project was cancelled entirely as part of the cuts. Everyone's been remaining pretty quiet about this at...
News Rare Is Completely Re-Evaluating Its Development Process After Everwild Cancellation
Sea of Thieves Community Direct tells all
Today, Sea Of Thieves developer Rare has hosted its first-ever 'Community Direct' livestream, addressing past game updates and what plans the studio has for the future of the title. While specific new updates weren't really discussed in detail, the team talked about its development process from a high level,...
Report Multiple Industry Veterans To Leave Xbox Studios Amidst Layoffs
Including big departures at Rare and ZeniMax Online Studios
The bad news about today's Xbox layoffs isn't over just yet, as some major names at multiple Xbox studios are said to be leaving their positions - either coincidentally or as a result of what we've been hearing all afternoon. Firstly, Zenimax Online Studios president Matt Frior is...
News Xbox's Everwild Gets Cancelled As Layoffs Hit Sea Of Thieves Developer
Update: It's now official
We told you folks to brace yourselves today and that's exactly what's needed. Following news earlier that fresh Microsoft layoffs were starting to hit Xbox teams, it's being reported that Rare is now one of the studios affected - and its Everwild project has seemingly been cancelled as a result. This is coming from outlet
News Microsoft Has 'Strong Confidence' In Rare's Everwild, Says Xbox Reporter
"The game is now on track"
Ahh, it's almost Xbox Games Showcase time, which means we're going to see lots of rumours and speculation on what Microsoft might be preparing to show as part of its 2025 event. To that end, Windows Central reporter Jez Corden has just put out a massive predictions piece ahead of next month's show - and while lot
Talking Point Is 2025 The Year We See Everwild On Xbox?
A rare appearance
Here at Pure Xbox HQ, we've begun theorising on what games might show up at a potential Xbox Developer Direct later this month. We know that the showcase hasn't even been formally announced yet - but it's still fun to speculate on what could make an appearance if Xbox continues its recent trend of January showcases
News Xbox Fans Treated To Surprise 'Everwild' Appearance Ahead Of The New Year
Could we see it in 2025?!
We haven't really heard much about the long-in-development Everwild over the past couple of years, but Rare has been silently working away on it, and we might have a sign that some kind of reveal will be shared with us in 2025. As part of their "Happy Holidays" message on social media, Rare shared a new piece of artwork...
News Rare Boss To Become New Head Of Xbox Game Studios
The team's current leader is retiring
Rare boss Craig Duncan is set to become the new leader over at Xbox Game Studios, with current XGS head Alan Hartman set to retire, per GamesIndustry.biz. Hartman only took on the role in 2023 after leading Forza developer Turn 10 for a number of years. Duncan will go down a similar route, af
Rumour Everwild Development Is 'Going Well' At Xbox Studio Rare
The game was announced half a decade ago
Almost five years ago now, Rare announced Everwild, its next major title after the arrival of Sea Of Thieves. To this day, we've not really been given a detailed look at the game, but a new rumour suggests that development on the title is now progressing well at the British studio. Coming from Windows...
News Sea Of Thieves Season 13 Has Arrived As Rare Continues To Build On PS5 Success
They're not slowing down!
Thought that Sea Of Thieves going multiplatform would slow down Rare, eh? Not a chance! The team has stuck to its regular update cadence with the arrival of Sea of Thieves Season 13, which is now live on Xbox, PS5 and PC. In this first post-launch season for PS5 players (Season 12 was packed into the PlayStation release),...
News Sea Of Thieves Justifies Multiplatform Release By Charting Again On PS5 In June
Fresh plunder
Another month brings even more Sea Of Thieves success for Microsoft! Rare's pirate adventure, which first launched on Xbox all the way back in 2018, has sold very well on PS5 again in June 2024. In both the US and Europe, Sea of Thieves was in the top five most downloaded PS5 games for the month of June. This follows May's standings,...
