Every time Microsoft has some kind of event, the same pattern has been repeated for two decades, namely people keeping their fingers crossed for the return of Banjo-Kazooie in a new platform adventure. Several times Xbox representatives have said they would like to do something with the characters, but so far nothing has materialised.
One person who is siding with the fans and considers this a strange behaviour from Microsoft is Ori and the Will of the Wisps creator and Moon Studios boss Thomas Mahler. He says that Microsoft doesn't have any family games and writes on social media:
"Xbox doesn't really have any family friendly titles now, at least nothing of quality that they're known for.
That's what I hoped Microsoft would see in Ori, but Xbox is clearly about Halo, Gears and Forza and nothing else really got all that much attention."
So, what should they do about it, according to Mahler? The answer is Banjo-Kazooie, which he says would be a smash hit in the right hands:
"They have been sitting on Banjo Kazooie with nothing happening there even though a really talented developer could probably make a Banjo game that could rival 3D Mario and probably sell similar numbers."
We don't think Mahler is entirely right about Xbox Game Studios not having any family games, given that they now own both Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon, but we do miss the bear and the bird. What do you think, could a really good Banjo-Kazooie have challenged Mario in terms of sales?