Xbox boss Phil Spencer has potentially teased the return of a fan-favorite series that got its start on the N64 and that gamers haven’t seen since 2008. To some, that may not seem that long ago, but that’s a 15-year absence. In other words, it’s been 15 years since we’ve seen Banjo-Kazooie. This has not only been sad for Nintendo fans, but Xbox fans, as the series may have started as a Nintendo series, but became an Xbox series overtime thanks to Xbox’s acquisition of its developer, Rare. That said, it sounds like this drought could be coming to an end in the not-so-far-off future.
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During a recent interview with Windows Central, Xbox boss Phil Spencer assured fans of the series that he hears them, which, at the very least, suggests intention. Spencer notes when revisiting older IP you have to find the right team and the right opportunity, which may explain why the series has sat on ice, however, it sounds like Spencer is definitely interested in reviving the old, but not forgotten series.
“There has to be passion in the team behind the projects,” said Spencer while talking about digging up dormant IP. “That doesn’t mean that the team has to be the original team, every time. I’m not one – and maybe this is just my approach – I’m not one to come in and take a franchise from a team and remove them from the discussion or development process on how something new gets built. I think the original creators, the culture – frankly, some of the lessons we’ve learned from past experiences here are very important. You’ve seen from our history that we haven’t touched every franchise that people would love us to touch – Banjo fans, I hear you. But it is true that, when we find the right team, and the right opportunity, I love going back to revisit stories and characters that we’ve seen previously.”
It would be odd to specificly bring up Banjo-Kazooie and revive chatter about it on the Internet if you weren’t planning on making good on the pleas of fans. That said, this is not the first time Spencer has dangled a carrot in front of fans of the series with nothing to follow so it’s hard to know how much should and shouldn’t be made of this quote. Whatever the case, feel free to leave a comment or two letting us know what you think. Would you like to see Banjo-Kazooie return? If so, would you be okay if it wasn’t via Rare?
