Popular Games by Rare
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- 24th Jun 2005 (UK/EU)
- 30th Jun 2005 (JPN)
Kameo: Elements of Power Xbox 360
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- 2nd Dec 2005 (UK/EU)
- 2nd Feb 2006 (JPN)
Kinect Sports: Ultimate Collection Xbox 360
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- 21st Sep 2012 (UK/EU)
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- 4th Sep 2014 (JPN)
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...
Latest Rare News
Monday13th Oct 2025
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
Monday4th Aug 2025
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,...
Thursday10th Jul 2025
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,...
Wednesday2nd Jul 2025
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
Wednesday28th May 2025
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
Friday21st Mar 2025
News Sea of Thieves Already Has Next 5 Years Planned, Starting With Xbox Exclusive 'X Edition'
Celebrate with the new 7th anniversary version
It wasn't always the easiest for Sea Of Thieves in the earlier stages of its life, but seven years on, the game is officially a huge success and is now even available on the PlayStation 5. The game's creative director Mike Chapman has used the seventh anniversary of the game to talk about its future on...
Thursday2nd Jan 2025
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
Wednesday27th Nov 2024
News Rare Boss Now Officially The New Head Of Xbox Game Studios
A new era for Xbox
Last month, it was revealed Rare's boss Craig Duncan would become the new leader of Xbox Game Studios, replacing Forza Motorsport's Alan Hartman. Now, in an update on Rare's socials, it seems Duncan has "recently started" in his new role, with his existing team celebrating his tenure after "13 years and 10 months". "Today we're...
Monday14th Oct 2024
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...
Thursday22nd Aug 2024
News Xbox's Sea Of Thieves Has Reportedly Sold Over One Million Copies On PS5
In Phil's words: "we run a business"
There's been a lot of conversation within the Xbox community following the announcement that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will be released on PlayStation 5 next year. Off the back of this, Phil Spencer yesterday said Xbox's franchises were actually "getting stronger". With this in mind, a new story today...
Thursday25th Jul 2024
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),...
Wednesday10th Jul 2024
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,...
Friday21st Jun 2024
News Xbox Exec Talks Multiplatform Strategy, Team 'Really Pleased' With Sea Of Thieves On PS5
"We have been really pleased"
In a new interview with Variety, Xbox exec Matt Booty has been discussing lots of Microsoft's recent gaming business, including the team's big summer showcase earlier this month. Naturally, the conversation also moved towards
Wednesday19th Jun 2024
News Another Rare Classic Is Now Available On Nintendo's Switch Online Service
Following the successful release of Sea of Thieves on PS5
Rare, the developer behind modern hits such as Sea Of Thieves, is today celebrating the release of another one of its classics on Nintendo's Switch Online subscription service. In case you missed it, this time it's the first-person shooter Perfect Dark. This kind of times into the first...
Thursday13th Jun 2024
News Sea Of Thieves Was The Best-Selling PS5 Game In Both The US & Europe Last Month
Sea of sales
Rare's Sea Of Thieves was probably the most high-profile Xbox game to make the switch to PlayStation 5 earlier in the year, and Microsoft's multiplatform move seems to have paid off for the Xbox owner already. In a new post over at the PlayStation Blog, Sony has detailed its software sales charts for May 2024, and Rare's pirate...
Friday10th May 2024
News Xbox's Sea Of Thieves Plunders PS5 Charts, Becoming Europe's Best-Selling Game In April
Shiver me timbers
Rare made its PlayStation debut last month with the arrival of Sea Of Thieves on PS5, and it sounds like its pirate adventure is doing quite well on the platform so far. As revealed by Sony in the company's latest PlayStation Blog sales post, Sea of Thieves was the best-selling game in Europe during the month of Apr
Tuesday30th Apr 2024
News Here's What The First PS5 Reviews Are Saying About Sea Of Thieves
Rare's first-ever PlayStation game is out now
Well, the final entry in Xbox's new four-game-foray into PlayStation gaming is officially out now, with Sea Of Thieves releasing on PS5 today. It's been a long while since the game first came out on Xbox though, so what are the reviews saying about Rare's pirate adventure in 2024? We've already heard...
Monday22nd Apr 2024
News Xbox Talks Sustainability Efforts As Rare's New 'Solar-Powered Studio' Is Unveiled
Earth Day 2024 brings new Xbox innovations
As part of Earth Day 2024, Microsoft has broken down a number of new initiatives going on at Xbox right now - including a brand-new "solar-powered studio" at Sea Of Thieves developer Rare. This new studio, also known as 'Barn X', opened last year - and it's since been "certified LEED GOLD for its design...
News Sea Of Thieves On PS5 Has Slight Edge Over Xbox Series X, Notes Digital Foundry
In two key areas
Over the weekend, the folks at Digital Foundry posted some interesting findings about Sea Of Thieves on PlayStation 5, following its recent beta test on the Sony console. We'll put the video version of their analysis up above, but the gist of it is that PS5 has a few advantages despite being very similar to the Series X version...
Wednesday3rd Apr 2024
News Killer Instinct Bonus Update Adds New Stage And '87 New Colorways'
Update: Available now
Update [Wed 3rd Apr, 2024 06:55 BST]: As a reminder, this update for Killer Instinct is now live. You can check out the patch notes in the original story below. Original post [Sat 30th Mar, 2024 06:00 GMT]: Killer Instinct earlier on held a special "bonus update stream" celebrating the recent release of the anniversary...
Thursday21st Mar 2024
News Sea Of Thieves Details Upcoming Seasons - New Weapons, Tools, Owls & More
Season 12, 13 and 14 outlined
Rare this week held its '2024 Preview Event' for Sea Of Thieves - celebrating the game's sixth anniversary and revealing what's coming in Season 12, 13 and 14. If you weren't able to catch it and need a quick recap, you've come to the right place. Keep in mind everything showcased during this latest broadcast is still...
Thursday7th Mar 2024
News Sea Of Thieves Announces 2024 Preview Event, Anti-Cheat Out Next Week
The game's sixth anniversary is on the horizon
As part of Sea Of Thieves' sixth anniversary celebrations, Rare is busy preparing a few things. Firstly, it's announced a '2024 Preview Event' will be taking place on March 20th. This will include a "sneak peek" of the content coming to Seasons 12, 13, and 14. More details will be shared as soon as...
Saturday2nd Mar 2024
News Sea Of Thieves Co-Developer Lays Off 'Handful' Of Employees
"This situation is heartbreaking"
It's been another difficult week for the video game industry in 2024 and now the UK indie developer Radical Forge has announced it's laying off a "handful of people". It's reportedly six employees to be exact. The same team, which worked alongside Flix Interactive and Rare on the free update Sea Of Thieves: A...
Wednesday28th Feb 2024
PSA You'll Need A Microsoft Account To Play Sea Of Thieves On PS5, Unsurprisingly
PlayStation crew members can sign up for free
Xbox wants to expand its ecosystem, and as part of this, it recently announced four first-party titles for other console platforms. One of these is Rare's online multiplayer pirate game Sea Of Thieves, which sails onto the PlayStation 5 on April 30th, 2024. For anyone who wants to play on this...
Thursday22nd Feb 2024
News Five More Of Xbox's Rare Classics Are Now Available For Switch Online
But some titles still aren't available on Xbox
Nintendo's latest broadcast revealed both Pentiment and Grounded would be coming to the Switch, but that actually wasn't the only Xbox-related news shared during the Partner Showcase. Five games in Rare's retro library have also made the journey across to the Switch Online service. This includes Snake...
Wednesday14th Feb 2024
News Rare Pokes Fun At Xbox Situation With Multiplatform Tease For Sea Of Thieves
"Wait, where were we going with this?"
If you can believe it, it's been more than a month since we first heard rumours of Sea of Thieves going multiplatform, and a new social media tease from developer Rare has perhaps delivered our most concrete evidence of the move yet. Taking to Twitter, the Sea Of Thieves account posted a short riddle...
Friday9th Feb 2024
News Killer Instinct Testing Out Ranked Crossplay (Xbox, Windows & Steam)
Try it out this weekend
Following the Killer Instinct: Anniversary Edition update in November last year, the development team is this weekend testing out Ranked Crossplay between Steam and Xbox/Windows. It's something the community has "been asking for years", and now thanks to some "fancy new services", users this weekend will be able to test it...
Wednesday17th Jan 2024
News Sea Of Thieves Season 11 Adds New Underwater 'Diving' Mechanic For Fast Travel
"Explore a redesigned Quest system"
The team at Rare has delivered its deep dive into Sea Of Thieves Season 11, featuring a major change to how quests can be tackled going forward. Yep, the game's new 'Diving' mechanic allows players to effectively fast travel to quests rather than need to sail the high seas towards an objective. This is an...
Thursday16th Nov 2023
News Killer Instinct 10th Anniversary Dev Stream Airs Later This Month
"The latest news on the upcoming changes"
The Xbox fighter Killer Instinct is celebrating its 10th anniversary later this month and as part of this it will be hosting a special Twitch livestream on 22nd November. During this developer stream, the team will be sharing "the latest news on the upcoming changes" to the game. This ties in with the...
Friday6th Oct 2023
News Sea Of Thieves Has A New Developer Working On Season Ten Cosmetics
"We got the amazing opportunity to work with Rare"
As Rare gets closer to its Season Ten update for its pirate-themed sandbox Sea Of Thieves, a new development announcement has been made. The UK Bristol-based team Auroch Digital (Warhammer: 40,000 Boltgun) has signed on to create some "hearty cosmetics" for Sea of Thieves, which will be premiering...
Friday29th Sep 2023
News Sea Of Thieves' Final Monkey Island Chapter 'The Lair Of LeChuck' Is Now Live
"Set sail once again"
If you're a fan of Rare's pirate sandbox Sea Of Thieves, here's your reminder that the third and final part of 'The Legend of Monkey Island' Tall Tales series is now live. In 'The Lair of LeChuck' you will accompany Guybrush Threepwood to Monkey Island in pursuit of Captain LeChuck. Here's a bit about what you can expect...
Sunday24th Sep 2023
News Sea Of Thieves Is 'Not Just PvE Or PvP', According To Creative Director
It's apparently a "shared world adventure game"
Earlier this week, Rare outlined its plans for Sea Of Thieves Season Ten - revealing the game would finally be adding private PvE servers. Although this decision is going to potentially increase the game's audience, it's definitely resulted in a mixed reaction from the community with some players...
Friday22nd Sep 2023
News Surprise! Sea Of Thieves Is Finally Adding Private PvE Servers
But there will be some differences...
If you've been wanting a dedicated PvE option in Rare's pirate game Sea Of Thieves, then get ready for the arrival of Season Ten because it will be adding a new "Safer Seas" mode. As explained by the game's creative director Mike Chapman in a new video update, this next season will be introducing a private...
Saturday5th Aug 2023
News Killer Instinct 10th Anniversary Update Coming To Xbox Series X|S
"More info coming soon"
The Xbox version of Killer Instinct has now been around for 10 years, and to celebrate this milestone, Iron Galaxy is back to deliver a special anniversary update "later this year". This announcement was made at EVO 2023 this weekend - with the Killer Instinct team confirming this update would include a balance patch,...
Sunday11th Jun 2023
News Sea Of Thieves Is Getting Free 'Legend Of Monkey Island' Tall Tales Starting Next Month
Welcome back, Guybrush Threepwood
During today's Xbox Showcase, Rare revealed Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island. It will be released in three monthly (and free) installments beginning next month on 20th July. This is described as a "brand-new tale" featuring familiar characters and voice actors from the popular Lucasfilm Games series...
Tuesday6th Jun 2023
News Rare's Everwild Potentially 'More Viva Piñata' Than Early Trailers Suggested
"The team there will knock it out of the park, I'm certain"
Rare's next game to launch after the ongoing Sea Of Thieves should be Everwild - at least, that's what we've thought since the title was revealed way back in 2019. We've only seen one more brief look at the game since (trailer up above), however a journalist is claiming that it could be...
Friday17th Mar 2023
News Sea Of Thieves Season 9 Now Live Following '2023 Edition' Xbox Game Pass Release
"Fabulous fortunes await"
Sea Of Thieves is sailing on into Season Nine, with Rare's latest update now live for all of you pirate adventurers out there. This looks like a biggie, with the team adding plenty of new content like expanded voyages, new Chests of Fortune, seasonal rewards and more. Much of Season Nine's new content is detailed in the...
Thursday16th Feb 2023
News Halo-Themed 'Infinite Depths Collection' Brings Energy Sword & More To Sea Of Thieves
Long John Silver
We've seen Halo stuff come to Sea Of Thieves before with themed pirate ship sails, but Rare is going even deeper this week with another big crossover. As part of a new 'Pirate Emporium' update, a bunch of Halo-themed gear is coming to this Xbox seafaring adventure. Yep, the gaming crossovers just keep on coming don't they? You'll...
Wednesday18th Jan 2023
News Rare's Everwild Team 'Warming Up' For 2023 As Work Continues On New Title
"Back in studio this week"
Remember Everwild? Rare's brand-new IP was first unveiled way back in 2019 at this point, and we've been eager to hear more about it since its mysterious reveal. While the team has remained largely quiet about the game over the past few years, we do at least have some confirmation that work on the title is ongoing. Louise...
Friday19th Aug 2022
News Joanna Dark's OG Voice Actor 'Excited' For New Perfect Dark
"Technology has moved on so far"
One of the games we're most excited about here at Pure Xbox is the upcoming Perfect Dark title by The Initiative. We're not the only ones, either. Our friends over at Time Extension recently had the chance to chat with Eveline Novakovic - Joanna Dark's original voice actor - about the new game. Although it's unclear...
Saturday13th Aug 2022
News Sea Of Thieves & Everwild Dev Rare Hosts 'Special Guest' Phil Spencer
What is he looking at?
Rare has been quite busy over the past week with the launch of Sea of Thieves Season Seven, but that's not all it's been up to. It turns out the UK developer has also been busy entertaining the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer. In a brief post via social media, the official Rare Twitter revealed how it had been hosting Phil for the...
Monday13th Jun 2022
News Sea Of Thieves Season 7 Sets Sail On Xbox July 21st
Save ship loadouts, quick cash-in points & more
The sole Rare offering on display during the Xbox and Bethesda showcase was Sea of Thieves. The UK developer will be kicking off Season 7 on July 21st across Xbox consoles, PC and cloud. This update will include the ability for pirates to save their ship loadout, customise their cabin, name their ship...
Monday28th Mar 2022
News Rare's Everwild Set To Feature A 'Large Scale Multiplayer World'
With "extended Artificial Intelligence systems"
It's been almost two years since we first locked eyes with Everwild, Rare's gorgeous-looking new series. The thing is, aside from its incredibly beautiful art style, we don't really know much about what the game actually is. However, a developer job description at least hints at a few notable...
Monday7th Mar 2022
News Sea Of Thieves Season Six Officially Launches March 10
Solo Sea Forts await
Last week, Rare detailed its 2022 roadmap and what we can expect from season six. The headline addition to Sea Of Thieves' sixth season is Sea Forts, a new type of 'mini raid' intended for single teams. We now know exactly when the feature will arrive. Season six kicks off March 10th, and you can expect Sea Forts to arrive...
Wednesday2nd Mar 2022
News Rare Has 'Ambitious Plans' For Sea Of Thieves As Season 6 Introduces New Raids
It all starts this month!
Sea of Thieves just keeps on trucking, well... sailing, and we're now up to Season Six since Rare introduced seasons. This seasonal update makes the usual changes, but it also adds new raids in the form of 'Sea Forts'. Rare is labelling Sea Forts as 'mini raids', an opportunity for crews to battle for treasures that hide...
Tuesday22nd Feb 2022
News Rare Is Closing Down Sea Of Thieves' Arena Mode Next Month
"We understand that this will be a huge disappointment"
Rare mentioned how 2022 would be the "biggest year yet" for Sea of Thieves during its preview event, but in case you missed it, it's also going to be retiring the game's Arena Mode on 10th March 2022. It's not gone down the best with the game's community, but in a lengthy post over on the...
Friday28th Jan 2022
News Sea Of Thieves Will Deliver Monthly Story-Driven Adventures In 2022
As part of an "overarching story"
A few days ago, Rare announced that it would be be laying out its 2022 plans via livestream. Well, that stream has come and gone, and this year sounds like a big one for Sea of Thieves. If you're after more story-based content from Rare's pirate adventure, you're in luck. Adventures are coming, new monthly story...
Tuesday25th Jan 2022
News 2022 Will Be 'The Biggest Year Yet' For Sea Of Thieves
All aboard
Sea of Thieves launched back in 2018 and it's still delivering plenty of content. To showcase the year ahead, developer Rare has announced a livestream event, featuring all things Sea of Thieves for 2022. The livestream, simply dubbed the '2022 preview event', will show an exclusive first look at the game's next season, along with "a...
