Toys for Bob would love to help revive the Banjo-Kazooie series. In a new interview, they spoke about the studio’s love for the franchise and how it fits into their portfolio.
Toys for Bob is currently working on revitalizing the Spyro the Dragon series. Spyro: A Realm Beyond is slated to release for all major consoles and PC in Spring 2027. Their portfolio previously included the Crash Bandicoot 4 video game, yet another revitalization of a popular mascot platformer from the late 90s. Thinking about 90s mascot platformers, Rare’s Banjo-Kazooie games for the Nintendo 64 jump to mind.
While it’s been a long time since a new Banjo game was released, the character remains beloved by many who grew up with the franchise and by new fans drawn in by Banjo’s inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on the Nintendo Switch. Toys for Bob would love to have a hand in creating the next era of Banjo-Kazooie, should it ever come to light.
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During a recent interview on the Kinda Funny Gamescast, the studio’s Associate Creative Director Lou Studdert and the head of the studio, Paul Yan, were asked whether the topic of a Banjo-Kazooie game ever comes up around the office. Both men immediately began to laugh and joked that it comes up quite often, before explaining their strong love for the series among team members.
“It’s a franchise we love. Again, as platformer fans, Banjo is at the top of the heap. We have some huge fans of that franchise on our staff. I’m talking, they’ve got the Jiggy as their profile pic kind of a thing. They’re that level of fan. So, you know, if the opportunity ever arose, that’d be amazing. We love the franchise,” said Lou Studdert.
Paul Yan added, “If you look at the throughline of the types of games that we like to make, I can imagine that that’s part of that staple as well. Those characters, you described as ‘nostalgic.’ I think that’s one way of looking at it. I think of them as timeless. They’re iconic. The types of games that we want to produce are ones that speak to a timeless place in the player as well, an ageless place, right? We call it the inner child. So I think those are wonderful games. We’re huge fans.”
Rare was purchased by Microsoft in 2001, following the launch of the original XBOX. Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, released in 2008, was the last entry in the franchise.
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