Since revealing Everwild toward the end of 2019, Rare and Microsoft haven’t really said much about the game, and details on it remain scarce. One thing that is instantly obvious about it, however, is that with its beautiful world and vivid art design, the game is looking to draw players in with the promise of exploring what’s looking like a fascinating setting. Speaking recently in an interview with Polygon, Rare’s studio head Craig Duncan said that that, in fact, is very much the focus of the upcoming game.
According to Duncan, Everwild’s (relatively smaller) development team is still brainstorming many ideas about the game, so there’s plenty that isn’t final yet. One thing that is final is that Rare want to “a world that they can just lose themselves in”, with a particular focus on nature.
“I think with Everwild, Louise [O’Connor] and her leadership team are really passionate about giving players a world that they can just lose themselves in — you know, a lot of nature feels magical,” Duncan said. “So the notion of, ‘What does it mean to nurture a world? What does it mean to be in nature?’ Part of the reason we haven’t talked a lot about Everwild is because we’re still feeling a lot of these things out.”
Duncan added that Rare will have much more to share about Everwild in the future, and that the studio is confident that it has “something special” on its hands with its new IP.
“We’re still playing around with gameplay ideas,” he said. “We’ll have plenty to say in the future on that, but… we have an idea we feel really passionate about, and we think there’s something special. I have a team of people that wake up every morning with the desire to make this game that they’re really, really passionate about.”
Everwild is currently in development for Xbox One and PC, but doesn’t currently have a release date. It is likely that Microsoft will have more to show and share about the game at the upcoming Xbox Games Showcase on July 23.
