Rare announced their new upcoming title Everwild in November 2019, but there’s been little to no updates on the game since then. With reports emerging shortly after the game’s announcement that it was in pre-production at the time, and with recent reports claiming that it’s still long way off from launch, one would assume that development on the project must only have started recently- but apparently, that’s not the case.
As per several LinkedIn profiles of those who have worked on or are working on Everwild (as spotted by @monster_wer on Twitter), it seems Everwild has been in the works in some way, shape, or form for a long time now. Profiles mention work on the game going as far back as 2017, while the LinkedIn page of lead narrative designer Dale Murchie even mentions working on the game all the way back in 2016, nearly five and a half years ago.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that the game has been in active, full-fledged development for all that time. Games often spend long periods of time in incubation and pre-production before entering full development, and it’s probably what we’re seeing here with Everwild. And seeing as one of the earliest indications of development we have is from the lead narrative designer, where the game’s setting and story were probably getting formulated, that seems even more likely.
Everwild is currently in development for Xbox Series X/S and PC. Late last year, the game’s creative director departed from Rare. A trademark filing year ago suggested that the game could have live service elements.