It’s been nearly four years since Everwild was announced, but there’s been little to no clarity on what the game is even going to be. Though what we saw of Rare’s game at the time certainly looked gorgeous, beyond vague indications that it could be a survival game of sorts (or at the very least feature survival elements), there has been no concrete word on what Everwild is going to turn out to be.
Of course, reports have revealed that Rare itself has been unable to nail down a concrete direction for the game throughout its long development cycle, with the developer having rebooted the project after the departure of its previous creative director. Since that reboot, it seems, the title seems to have taken on a different shape than originally intended.
According to VGC’s Andy Robinson, who recently took to Twitter to touch on Rare’s elusive game, Everwild might no longer be as much of a survival game as its early showing had suggested it would be, and instead seems to be adopting elements that are similar to Rare’s Xbox 360 title Viva Pinata.
While Robinson hasn’t elaborated on what that will entail, Viva Pinata was a game that focused on simulation mechanics, with quite a bit of emphasis placed on gardening and restoring neglected locations as a result. Exactly what sort of cues Everwild is taking from that premise remains to be seen.
Around the time that reports of Everwild’s development reboot emerged, Xbox Game Studios boss Matt Booty said that the claims were “a little extreme”, though subsequent reports have insisted that the title’s development is “a real mess”.
As per leaks, in the wake of its last reboot, Everwild was tentatively targeting a 2023 or 2024 launch window.
Last I heard it was a bit more Viva Pinata than the survival game the earlier trailers hinted at. The team there will knock it out of the park, I'm certain.
— Andy Robinson (@Andy_VGC) June 5, 2023
