Sea of Thieves studio Rare is the next Xbox studio to respond to the recent Microsoft layoffs and in this case, specifically the cancelation of the action-adventure game Everwild.
Everwild, first announced in 2019 with a development story going all the way back to 2014, was one of the many casualties of Microsoft's recent downsizing, which resulted in the loss of around 9,000 jobs. We didn't see a whole lot of Everwild in the years since its reveal, but what little we did see of its colorful fantasy world was mighty promising, making its cancelation all the more disappointing for Rare diehards.
In July's Sea of Thieves developer update, Rare production director Drew Stevens opened by addressing the elephant in the room, speaking out about the impact of Everwild's cancelation on the overall studio.
"I think it would be strange to jump straight into our usual updates without acknowledging the news that we've ended development on Everwild here at Rare," Stevens said. "While this didn't directly impact Sea of Thieves, and we're continuing on as we'd planned, our focus as a team and a studio is on supporting our friends and colleagues whose roles are at risk."
The layoffs at Xbox resulted in the cancelation of the Perfect Dark reboot and the shuttering of developer The Initiative, the downsizing of Forza studio Turn 10's workforce by about 50%, and the cancelation of an unannounced ZeniMax Online MMO. Longtime ZeniMax Online studio director Matt Firor of 18 years left the studio in the wake of the news, and later, the studio's union issued a statement on the cancelation, saying "a future has been stolen."
"It's impossible for something like this not to ripple through the studio and affect us all in some way or another, so please bear with us," added Stevens. "And on that, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who's reached out to check in on us and share their kind words of support. Genuinely, thank you, it really means a lot."
As bummed as I am about Everwild, I really do appreciate that Rare took the time to acknowledge the situation instead of just pretending like nothing's happened. I can't fathom the pain and uncertainty at Xbox studios like Rare right now, and I can only hope that being able to continue work on Sea of Thieves gives the developers some sense of poetic escape similar to the whimsical distraction the open seas have provided players like me for years and years.
