Speaking with GamesIndustry, managing director Gavin Price spoke about what these plans may entail, which primarily includes doubling the studio’s size, expanding to having three development teams, and working on a new 3D platformer that will serve as a direct follow-up to 2017 game Yooka-Laylee.

2019’s Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, of course, was a sidescrolling 2D platformer. Earlier this year, Playtonic said that it would be revealing its new project soon, and also confirmed that it had multiple new Yooka-Laylee games in development.

Sure enough, the deal with Tencent seems to be focused primarily on expanding the Yooka-Laylee IP. Price said: “We’ve always had a dialogue with Tencent. We got chatting to them about the future of 3D platforming and what we’re doing next. I mentioned that Playtonic had this growth plan of being lots of people with lots of teams. They said don’t do anything hasty, that they really liked these chats and wanted to discuss how Tencent could get involved.

“I was surprised, because I didn’t expect them to be interested in Playtonic. It turned out that they had a department for genres, including a 3D platform department. So we had to formalise our future content plan a bit. And we wanted to have an aspiration goal as well, which was to make Yooka-Laylee an IP that could appear on a major fast food chain’s kids meal box.

“They liked the studio and what we put out before, and they thought they could help us achieve those goals. And it just continued from there. Naturally, everyone wanted to do this, so we just threw it over to the solicitors and waited for them to tell me it was done.”

Interestingly, Price has also said that Playtonic could move to a new HQ, open new offices, and even potentially acquire other teams as it looks to expand.

How long it’ll be before the developer is ready to announce the next Yooka-Laylee game remains to be seen, but clearly, it seems it has big plans for the IP.

For the entire month, Darksiders 3 will be available for all Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers. It was the latest game in the action series from THQ Nordic and Gunfire Games. For August 1st to the 15th will be Capcom’s Lost Planet 3, the final entry in that series and one that took a more narrative-based approach than its predecessors. From the 16th to the 31st is Garou: Mark of the Wolves, the final entry in the Fatal Fury fighting series. Rounding out, the original Yooka-Laylee will be available from the 16th going into September.

The slate of games will be available for subscriptions starting August 1st, and will be playable on all Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S consoles, with Lost Planet 3 and Garou: Mark of the Wolves also being playable on Xbox 360.

Who’s ready for some free games? We’re happy to reveal next month’s Games with Gold selections are Darksiders III and Yooka-Laylee, with classic titles Lost Planet 3 and Garou: Mark of the Wolves available via Backward Compatibility. https://t.co/InmY9e1Dkn

— Xbox Wire (@XboxWire) July 28, 2021

Yooka-Laylee developers Playtonic have been teasing their next game for some time now, but the most recent big announcement they made was not a new game, but the opening of Playtonic Friends, a new publishing label dedicated to supporting indie developers around the industry. But fans of their work need not worry- it seems they’re more focused than ever on delivering new games.

Speaking in an interview with Eurogamer, Playtonic boss Gavin Price gave assurances that the new publishing label will function with a team that’s separate from Playtonic’s development staff. In fact, the studio has actually been staffing up as it continues working on its upcoming projects- and “multiple” games seem to be in the works at the same time.

“We’re actually going to be increasing our development size, purely focused on achieving new games in the Yooka-Laylee universe,” Price said. “For the first time in history there’s multiple things on the go.”

When asked about what things Playtonic in the works as far as new games are concerned, Price hinted that there’s scope for a lot of games featuring characters from the Yooka-Laylee universe that would be “crowd-pleasers” for fans of the series. He then want on to talk about two ideas in particular that the development team is excited to work on.

“There’s always going to some things which I’d say are a natural crowd-pleaser for our fans, but it’d also be great to start surprising them with something unexpected as well,” he said.

“One game we’re thinking about doing we’re like, wow, this game would be great to have announced two years before launch and within that two years there’s actually scope to keep doing lots and lots of cool surprises within those two years. The fact it might be known about for a while could be right.

“And then there’s another game which is just like ‘wow, it would be great if we could just say nothing, and then one day push a launch button… tada!’ It could totally spectacularly backfire, you just never know.”

Whatever it is, here’s hoping their next project is announced soon. While the first Yooka-Laylee was a rather inconsistent experience in spite of the clear homage it paid to the Banjo-Kazooie games, its follow-up, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, was a much better platformer, owing more of a likeness to Rare’s 2D sidescrolling Donkey Kong Country titles.

We’ll keep you updated as and when new details come our way, so stay tuned.

Yooka-Laylee developer Playtonic is celebrating its sixth anniversary, and to commemorate the occasion, they’ve made a pretty big announcement- the opening of a new publishing label, called Playtonic Friends (which is the rebranding they were teasing earlier). Speaking in an interview with Eurogamer, Playtonic boss Gavin Price said that the new publishing label felt like the next big step for the studio.

“About a year ago now, on the back of launching Impossible Lair, there was an opportunity to do some reflection and say ‘Hey, how’re our games going, how’re our processes going, what do want to be doing with our own IP?’ But also as a business as well to think, what else can we be doing?” said Price.

Price also spoke about this next big step for the studio, saying that Playtonic Friends’ purpose is to help smaller titles get the recognition and success they deserve at launch. He remarked that with Playtonic staff (many of whom were at Rare during the Nintendo days) having had experience as first party developers, independent developers, and crowd-funded developers, they are in the unique position of having plenty to offer to indie developers in the industry.

“We like seeing great games come out and achieve success,” Price said. “We don’t like seeing great games come out and not get the attention or love, or the commercial success they deserve. Sadly that’s too common a story in the industry.

“We thought, well, if we can help great games come out and get attention and have that better chance, having given developers this long-term sustainability, everyone wins… We’ve always had people coming to us for advice, but one of the advantages of being old is having all this experience. We’ve had experience of being first-party, being independent, of doing crowd-funding. We have a lot to share.”

Price added that Playtonic isn’t looking for any specific types of games to publish, and that they want to have no arbitrary restrictions in place for the same. Additionally, developers they work with through the publishing label might be considered later for work on games in Playtonic’s own Yooka-Laylee universe.

“There’s no barrier to the types of games and people we went to help,” he said. “It would be arbitrary to say ‘we can’t help you because your game doesn’t have a million different collectibles’. There’s companies we’ll be working with and games we’ll be announcing which will make people go, ‘woah, how did we get from a chameleon and a bat to this over here?’

“But as we’re going to be working with great partners through the Playtonic Friends label, we may find some great people who can help us with content in the Yooka-Laylee universe as well.”

Three developers have already signed on with Playtonic Friends for their next games- Awe Interactive (developer of BPM: Bullets Per Minute), okidokico (developer of OK Golf), and Fabraz (developer of Slime-san).

Playtonic’s Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair launched roughly a year and a half ago, which means it’s about that time where fans start wondering what the developer has been up to. If you’re one of those fans, don’t worry- apparently, we’ll find out soon enough what it is that Playtonic have in the works.

Taking to Twitter via their official account, Playtonic posted a message in which they thanked their fans and community. After acknowledging that there are many who are wondering what they’re working on next, they said that though they cannot reveal anything just yet, they will be revealing something “soon”.

As for what that could be, it’s anyone’s best guess at this point. Yooka-Laylee fans surely wouldn’t say no to another game in the series, though if that does end up happening, it’ll be interesting to see if Playtonic make a 3D platformer like the first game, or a sidescrolling one like Impossible Lair. Playtonic have explicitly said in the past that they’re not working on a new Banjo-Kazooie game, though there will, of course, still be people who’ll be holding out hope.

Recently, Playtonic stated that they were undergoing a “rebranding”, saying that there was a very good reason for the same, and that more details would be revealed soon. It’s likely that that’s connected to their next game, so stay tuned, and we’ll keep you updated should we learn anything more.

https://twitter.com/PlaytonicGames/status/1358784398636818434

Playtonic’s Yooka-Laylee series might not be the platforming classic that many had once hoped it would be, but it’s not without its strengths, and as such, its legion of fans. The first game is a solid (if uneven experience), while its successor is a legitimately good sidescrolling platformer. As such, there’s no shortage of people who’ve got their eye on the studio and what it will do next.

Apparently, what they will do next is rebrand themselves. The indie developer has apparently been sending out emails to its Kickstarter backers (via @Logmey92 on Twitter), in which it states that it is undergoing a rebrand. Interestingly enough, Playtonic says “there is a good reason” for said rebranding, and while that’s all they’ve said on the topic so far, they have promised that “all will be revealed soon.”

Honestly, that could mean any number of things, though I’m sure the most optimistic people out there will be hoping that this rebranding is a sign for that ever-elusive Banjo-Kazooie revival that people have so often pegged Playtonic as the perfect developer for. For what it’s worth, the studio explicitly stated earlier last year (and not for the first time), that it was not working on a Banjo game.

Either way, whatever this rebranding is for, we’ll probably know soon enough (one would hope, anyway). Stay tuned, and we’ll keep you updated.

Playtonic is teasing a rebrand among other exciting things. They have always been a logical acquisition target for Xbox, maybe they finally join now (after all the rumors and denial last year). Who better to make a new Banjo than them?! Hat tip to @HermanWrestling for the find. pic.twitter.com/hsYJ1jvyu9

— Logan Meyer (@Logmey92) January 27, 2021

While Xbox Game Pass is the new hotness for Microsoft as time goes on, there’s still perks to being a Xbox Live Gold member. There are quite a few free game giveaways, for instance, but there’s also the free to play weekends. This weekend has a good helping of titles for you to get through, too.

Starting today, you can play through three very different titles for free if you subscribe to either Xbox Live Gold or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Probably the biggest one of the three is Star Wars: Squadrons, the latest game in the franchise that sees you blasting your way through the stars in the iconic space fighters. Next is something very different, but just as explosive with Dragon Ball FighterZ, Arc Systems’ frantic and wild fighting game that adapts the world famous manga. Finally, for something a bit more mellow and single player-focused, the first Yooka-Laylee, a 3D platformer that harkens to an old school style.

All three games are free to play starting today and the trial will run until Sunday, January 17th for subscribers on Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One. You can read full details via Microsoft’s website through here.

A rumor began circulating recently about Microsoft expressing interest in Playtonic Games. The studio is mostly composed of former members of Rare and has released two games in the Yooka-Laylee series (including the recent Yooka-Laylee and The Impossible Lair). Apparently, Microsoft was looking to acquire the studio to create a new Banjo-Kazooie title.

Playtonic Games has issued a statement on Twitter, denying that it’s working on a new Banjo-Kazooie. It also noted that it was staying independent. Though the developer would “love to work with the bear and bird again”, it unfortunately stated “that ball isn’t in our court.”

It’s a shame, for sure, but Playtonic has plenty going of its own work going on. Besides, if Microsoft is serious about reviving the Banjo-Kazooie franchise, why wouldn’t it utilize its own resources like Rare? That’s not accounting for studios like Double Fine Productions which are currently under the Xbox banner and could create an entirely new property that’s exclusive.

For now, we’re just going to have to be content that Banjo-Kazooie are playable in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

A statement from us! pic.twitter.com/nZHqI5GaYe

— Playtonic (@PlaytonicGames) November 6, 2019

Following the recent Inside Xbox stream, Microsoft revealed its ID@Xbox Game Pass showcase for Fall 2019. These represent indie efforts that will be added to the subscription service on PC and Xbox One overtime. We know about titles like Cities: Skylines, Lonely Mountains: Downhill and Genesis Noir but there are a few surprises there.

For instance, Playtonic’s Yooka-Laylee will be joining the roster, bringing its retro-style 3D platforming to the masses. The Escapists 2 is also set to release along with Devolver Digital titles like Minit, The Red Strings Club and The Talos Principle. Dead by Daylight, the popular asymmetrical horror multiplayer title, is also coming.

A number of these titles are coming in 2019. The good news is that there are several titles available today to play. This includes Bad North, GoNNER, Slay the Spire and Enter the Gungeon (along with the previously released SteamWorld Dig 2). Stay tuned for more details on indie releases for the console in the meantime,

Grunty’s Furnace Fun – Banjo-Kazooie

The most immediate example that comes to mind is Banjo-Kazooie. Before fighting Gruntilda, she presents a rather odd puzzle to stop our heroes – Grunty’s Furnace Fun. There are unique panels that present everything from timed challenges (like the sandcastle puzzle) to identifying different worlds. You also have Grunty’s personal questions which are randomized each time and can only be answered by speaking to Brentilda, her sister, throughout the game.