We really haven't seen much usage of classic Rare brands from Microsoft recently (outside of Killer Instinct - which is not developed by Rare), but that doesn't mean they have forgotten about those titles. In the latest episode of the Inner Circle podcast, Microsoft Studios creative director Ken Lobb (who used to work at Rare) says there will be more Perfect Dark, Banjo-Kazooie and so on:
"Will there ever be another Banjo, Viva, Blast Corps, Battletoads? Yeah, someday. And I think the reason you see things like [the Battletoads trademark] revived, is because we know there's value."
Lobb also talks about the fact that Microsoft renewed the Battletoads brand earlier a few months ago:
"So we renewed the trademark. Does that mean it's coming this year? No. Does that mean it'll never come? Absolutely not. We have a lot of passion internally for each of the games. And we have surprises in store in the near and long future."
Unfortunately, Lobb says there is no one at Rare working on a new Perfect Dark at the moment, which raises questions whether we'll even see a new game in that series this entire generation (development time is often estimated around three years for AAA titles nowadays). Lodd does however have this to say:
"In a world where you have Halo and you have Gears, having another Perfect Dark Zero-style game maybe makes a little bit less sense than something that's a little more story-driven around Joanna. Whether that's third-person with stealth, et cetera, et cetera ... we like the IP."
Lobb jokes around the fact that Perfect Dark Zero was set in the year 2020 and sums it up by saying:
"Maybe we'll see another Joanna Dark game with Joanna by 2020. That would be an interesting year to bring her back."
Thanks, Gamespot.