Xbox's Phil Spencer Knows How Much We Want A New Banjo-Kazooie Game

I personally Don't want a new Banjo game.

Toys for Bob would be a great fit for a new Banjo game.

Partner with Playtonic Games to make it...for obvious reasons.

@CourtneyDL Couldn't agree more...

Also, just think of all the IP''s Toy's for Bob could use in a Kart Racer or Party Brawler etc Obviously there is Banjo, Conker, Crash, Spyro etc, but you could have Marcus Fenix, Master Chief, Doom guy, Joanna Dark, BJ, Fallout boy, Senua as well as 'iconic' CoD/WoW etc etc caricatures too.

But I'd probably prefer a good old fashioned 3D Platformer to those more multiplayer focused games these days - although the potential for some great 'combat' shooter game mash-up with ALL the major iconic Shooter games in their rosta now is there. Definitely see more crossover cosmetics for sale no doubt too - unfortunately LOL

Capturing the magic of Banjo in present day is almost impossible and on top of that without a passionate team behind it it's a disaster. I totally agree with this approach. Even though some folks think Toys for Bob would be a good fit but I disagree as a team has to be passionate about making such classic to appeal to present day audiences. But it's just me

They won't ever top the 1st 2 banjo games the rare of old are gone unfortunately the magic rare used to have on everything they touched is gone Microsoft have destroyed them same as every company they buy

When we find the right team 😆😆😆

@Dan1283 you do know being bitter all the time ages you quicker than finding the happy in things. Rare has been given loads of money and creative freedom to build what they wanted. They have had some misses yes. But Sea of thieves has a living breathing player base that isn’t easy to get in the gaas business. If that game isn’t for you great. But it has a large amount of players that on PC/Xbox that really enjoy and support it. Bring on Banjo MS, cause we know Sony will never bring us back Sly Cooper and Jak and Dexter.

@somnambulance My guess would be for the same reason Sony don’t want to bring us a new Sly Cooper or Jak and Dexter game.

I still believe Double Fine are more than up to the task. Although I wonder if a Conker game would be more up their alley

I think if someone makes a Banjo, make it different than 3D because look how Yookie-Laylee turned out

Rare and Playtonic should develop it. The designer and director of Banjo-Kazooie, Gregg Mayles, works at Rare. His brother works at Playtonic. Composer Grant Kirkhope is a freelance. Rare"s Sea of Thieves is one of the most beautiful games ever and it makes me think how wonderful a new Banjo-Kazooie game would look, respecting the original design of the characters. Banjo is my favourite video game character, but Kazooie has the best lines in video game history. She and Cranky Kong, another Rare's character. So yes, I want Banjo-Kazooie back in the right hands. Have Toys for Bob or Vicarious Visions/Blizzard Albany work on the remakes. It's a total shame what Microsoft is not doing with such iconic characters. It's unforgivable.

@somnambulance it’s the only thing i even play on my Switch these days is Mario games. I beat odyssey 3 times. Once on the TV and the other 2 times portable. So once on LCD switch and once on Oled. Crazy how much better it looked on Oled and my Oled gaming TV. Sony and MS have shown very little interest in the genre. But i would love to see how good a Sly Cooper game on PS5 would look and for sure a Banjo game on Series X could look stunning.

@Banjo- I thought of you the second i seen this post. I was like man he is going to light up when he see’s this. Even tho it’s not the news you really want to hear. It’s closer tho buddy hahaha 😊

There were rumors a few years ago they were working on a Banjo game. Nothing else ever came of it. I’m hoping there is one being worked on and Phil can’t announce it just yet. Banjo is a great platformer. Xbox needs more variety in games, this would be a beloved franchise that could help get people into the Xbox ecosystem.

@HonestHick Thanks 😁. To be honest, this sounds like Phil being hands-off once again, and that's a shame. The good news is that he's aware of the love towards Banjo-Kazooie.

The new studio The Initiative was in total chaos until Crystal Dynamics came to the rescue. What didn't Microsoft acquire Crystal Dynamics when Square Enix was selling it? It makes no sense. I think that somebody should be supervising the studios that aren't efficient, or change their leadership. Somebody should notice that Microsoft let somebody else buy for little an studio that is the one saving their studio!

@EvilSilentFrame Xbox needs Banjo-Kazooie, Viva Piñata, Conker... That kind of games that have a different mood, appeal to a big audience and make their brand and subscription look diverse and complete. They must be blind.

I prefer Conker, and I want a new game of that. Sadly I kinda gave up hope with Banjo or Conker.

@Banjo- I think they believed there wasn’t a market for those kinds of games as when they tried with them in the past, it was a different market. I’m hoping they now see there is room for those types of games.

They did try back in the OG Xbox and 360 days. Conker getting a remake and Grabbed by the Ghoulies didn’t do well. Nuts and Bolts and Kameo I don’t think hit the numbers they were anticipating. Piñata seemed to do better than they thought it would, but after a sequel and a party game, Rare was stuck making avatars. Wasted potential.

Xbox tried with a few outside of Rare like Blinx the Time Sweeper and Voodoo Vince. Blinx I wasn’t a fan of but Voodoo Vince I absolutely loved. All these games were more family oriented games and brought diversity like you said, but back then the mentality was “first person shooters.” I think there’s a market for a new Banjo game. Give it to the right studio and give them the time and money needed to make the game. We saw how people reacted to them being in Smash, people are waiting for a new game of their own. We are more than ready!

@EvilSilentFrame Right, all have come back: Crash, Spyro, Kao, Ratchet, Smurfs, Klonoa... Bubsy 😅. Time for Rare's characters ✌🏻. People are more than ready and they will make the Xbox library more diverse and appeal to a wider audience.

@ValkyriaProfile Maybe if it has a member of every race in the world, all living in the same 20-citizen medieval town like in modern TV series... 🤣

@Banjo- I’d settle for a Banjo remake. They can test the waters with that. I think it would do well and create a good amount of buzz.

@EvilSilentFrame That would be a very good place to start.

@HonestHick I wouldn't say Sony has shown very little interest in the genre, every PS5 comes with Astro Bot for a start, then there's also Sackboy and Ratchet & Clank.

I'd still like to see more though

@carlos82 i really loved ratchet and Clank and beat it 3 times. It’s more of a shooter slash platformer and i think thats how Sony get’s away with it’s mid level sales. Astro while really neat to show off the controller is still a Demo so not a full invested game on their end. But i see your points and wish Sly and Jak got some love but sadly I would have to guess we won’t see them anytime soon. Xbox has little to no history with the Genre and Banjo would be a huge starting point for them and might even lure in some under age crowd players into GP or the game itself which would hardly seem like a bad deal for Xbox as they aren’t known to have loads of those types of customers. Here’s hoping that genre gets some love this gen. 😊

@HonestHick I agree, I wouldn't consider Ratchet and Clank a platformer. Knack 2, that I had a good time with, isn't a platformer either. I have the feeling that even their cartoon games are some kind of linear adventure games.

@Sol4ris fanboy I'm just telling the truth thats all I aren't a fanboy of Sony nintendo or Microsoft I am a bit bitter to be honest more annoyed how hopeless Microsoft have been the past few years

I think the only way we'll end up with a new game in the franchise is if Microsoft sells Rare to Nintendo.

Toys for Bob, assuming there’s anything left of the original studio after they were demoted to Call of Duty slaves.

@Dan1283 Full stops exist, maybe try them.

If Microsoft don’t want to take a risk on a new entry then surely a remake of the first game is an obvious and easy entry point to test the waters.

I very much want a traditional banjo three-ie

The thing is that Microsoft now has a much larger group of Studio's now and instead of 'pressurising' studio's to make 'certain' games to fit an IP that stifles their creative freedom, they can now let them make the Games they really want to make. The 'next' Halo won't seem so long a wait if you have all these 'other' IP's and games coming from ALL these Studios - even if some will be on Playstation (at least) too.

The hope is that a studio would want to make a Game with Banjo, with Conker or with any other Iconic character (Blinx?) from their catalogue of IP's. MS can obviously 'suggest' some creative ideas could be developed further IF they were to use their IP's for example, but it seems MS won't dictate as such but could make some Suggestions to help Studio's focus on 'something'...

Actions speak louder than words. With a resume like Phil's, we'll be lucky to get more than a few first party AAA exclusives each year, let alone good ones.

What about a co-op puzzle-platformer (like It Takes Two or Unravel 2) where one person is Banjo and the other is Kazooie? And Mumbo can have a son who rides around in Banjo's backpack and learns spells to transform each of them at-will into different things to solve puzzles? It can be called Banjo-Threeie since there's 3 characters palling around.

Whilst Im sure many of us would love to see it, its 'draw' in the general market would be very limited. I cant remember a platformer making a splash for some time..
.. But I guess the beauty of owning the ip on xbox is that the normal commercial rules dont apply and they could do it if it pleases the subscribers.

The original was truly an awful experience.

That said, the IP itself could be done well in the hands of another developer. I'd be game if it was done right.