It's not unusual that developers see lay-offs following the conclusion of large projects and Rare is the latest studio to follow this trend. Reports online peg the number of lay-offs at 20 from a team working on Kinect Sports Rivals that was 150 people strong. Among those laid off is veteran Chris Sutherland, who has more than 20 years at the studio and voiced Banjo Kazooie - he also worked on Battletoads and all the Rare-developed Donkey Kong Country titles. An official statement from Microsoft reads as follows:
"At Xbox, our goal is to constantly create new fun, social and interactive entertainment experiences. As part of Rare's commitment to this goal, we have made a decision to change our development process and methodology at Rare to best support our future projects, this has led to us reviewing the skills and the makeup of our development teams in our business. Rare continues to invest in our people and future projects."
Remains to be seen what Rare does next? There are rumours floating about of potential returns to Battletoads and Perfect Dark, but that could simply be a case of wishful thinking from fans.