The so-called “Rare-vival” has ostensibly been accomplished. Playtonic Games, formed by staffers of the prestigious British company, launched a Kickstarter campaign only a few days ago to generate funds for the company’s new IP; a Banjo-Kazooie spiritual successor known as Yooka-Laylee.
Hitting the crowd-funding website with an initial goal pegged at $175,000, not only did Playtonic’s embryonic platformer blast through this artificial ceiling, but Yooka-Laylee is now the fastest video game project to reach $1 million in funding – a feat it accomplished in a mere six hours. Currently hoovering around $1.3 million in total, the studio has stormed past all of its stretch goals thus far, ensuring that the final build includes a multiplayer segment not to mention the fact that the platformer will ship for all platforms simultaneously.
According to Playtonic, the 3D, N64-inspired title will release for PC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Wii U in the latter stages of 2016, and backers who contribute a select amount will be entitled to added bonuses on day one, with signed posters, exclusive soundtracks and other such perks lining the game’s Kickstarter page.
From the creative minds that brought us Donkey Kong Country and the aforementioned Banjo-Kazooie, Yooka-Laylee is a platformer that stars the titular pairing, who will explore five distinct environments, collecting precious items and stomping out cartoonish bad guys on the trot. Playtonic is promising that the finished product will harness the legacy of the 90s mascot platformer, and all signs point to the new-fangled studio delivering a truly nostalgic adventure come next year.
Yooka-Laylee has been tentatively slated for a release in October of 2016. For more information, be sure to head on over to Playtonic’s Kickstarter page.
