Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair Announced

Today, publisher Team17 and developer Playtonic Games announced Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, a 2.5D follow-up to the original Yooka-Laylee, which was a 3D platformer in the vain of games like Banjo-Kazooie that hit back in 2017 after a successful campaign on Kickstarter. To accompany the announcement, the pair also revealed the game’s first-ever trailer, and as you can see, it has the visuals and vibe of its predecessor, but is a completely different game otherwise.

“In this new platforming adventure hybrid, Yooka and Laylee must combine their abilities to take on a series of challenging and vibrant 2.5D levels and explore and solve puzzles in a beautiful 3D overworld,” reads an official pitch of the game. “It’s on them to rescue Queen Phoebee’s Royal Beettalion Guard from each level, as they size up Capital B’s most dastardly challenge yet—the Impossible Lair.”

According to Playtonic, the game is not a direct sequel, and it plans to do more with the Yooka-Laylee brand going forward, which probably includes making another 3D entry.

At the moment of publsihing, there’s been no word on a release date, but Team17 did note it will release this year, and that it plans on sharing more at E3 next week. As for platforms, it’s in development for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendno Switch. There’s currently no word of a Stadia port or any other additional ports. However, there is word of a retail release in addition to a digital release.