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Spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie successfully kickstarted...in forty minutes

by: Russell - posted: 5/5/2015 6:04:00 AM
More On: Yooka-Laylee

Something you may have heard about over the past few days is a game on Kickstarter called Yooka-Laylee, a game being developed by a group of Rare alumni know as Playtonic Games that was successful on Kickstarter in just forty minutes.  Getting Steam, Xbox One, PS4, and Wii U releases, Yooka-Laylee is being called a "buddy platformer" and the spiritual successor to the Banjo-Kazooie series.  The Kickstarter campaign still has forty-two days to go but has already raised 1,366,167 British pounds (or just over two million US dollars according to Google's currency exchange calculator).  While all of the currency amounts are in British pounds, they conveniently have other currencies listed with each reward tier so you won't have to go through the trouble of converting them yourself.

With forty-two days to go in the campaign, Playtonic Games is already working towards the last stretch goal of a full orchestrated soundtrack if they hit 1.5 million pounds.  Check out more about the game and the campaign over at their official Kickstarter campaign page.  As a fan of the Banjo-Kazooie games, I'll likely back this one as it's only $15 to get the Steam version and $24 for console versions.

 

From the creative talent behind Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong Country...do I have your attention now?

Hailing from Playtonic Games - a studio of Rare alumni - Yooka-Laylee is the buddy-platforming spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie, and is already a Kickstarter success story on the first day of its campaign.

 

Creative Talent Behind Banjo-Kazooie Launch Kickstarter for Spiritual Successor, YOOKA-LAYLEE

PLAYTONIC GAMES, a new development studio formed by the creative talent behind renowned adventure series such as Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong Country, today launched the Kickstarter campaign for YOOKA-LAYLEE, an all-new 3D platformer coming to consoles and PC!

PLAYTONIC was formed in 2014 by veterans of Rare Ltd, including Steve Mayles, creator of the beloved Banjo and Kazooie characters, and Chris Sutherland, the software engineer responsible for more than two decades of iconic games. Between them, the seven-person PLAYTONIC team has over 100 years of combined experience working on blockbuster franchises.

YOOKA-LAYLEE (previously ??Project Ukulele??) will be released in 2016 and star the charismatic new heroes Yooka and Laylee. Using an arsenal of special moves like Yooka??s tongue grapple and Laylee??s sonar blast, players will explore ?? and expand ?? gorgeous 3D worlds filled with collectibles and secrets to discover.

The highly-anticipated project will feature worlds crafted by the artists behind the genre??s most beloved classics, plus a dream soundtrack created in collaboration with legendary composers David Wise (Donkey Kong Country series), Steve Burke (Kameo: Elements of Power) and Grant Kirkhope (Banjo-Kazooie series).

PLAYTONIC is using Kickstarter as a means of both expanding the scope of YOOKA-LAYLEE and bringing it to more platforms. The game is currently planned for release on PC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Wii U, with release timings dependent on the success of the crowdfunding campaign.

??When we first announced our project earlier this year it was as much about gauging interest from fans as anything, and it??s fair to say that the response has been massive,?? said Gavin Price, managing director and creative lead at PLAYTONIC.

??Until now our development has been self-funded, but Kickstarter presents us with the amazing opportunity to deliver YOOKA-LAYLEE at the level of scope and scale that fans demand ?? and on their games platform of choice. Our team has decades-worth of ideas that we hope we??ll now finally have the resources and freedom to bring to reality.??

PLAYTONIC need your help to bring Yooka and Laylee to life. Please check out and support their Kickstarter campaign here.

 
 
 
 

ABOUT THE PLAYTONIC TEAM

Founded in 2014, PLAYTONIC GAMES is an independent developer based in Derby, UK, comprised of:

Chris Sutherland (Project director): 25 years at Rare. Chris was the lead engineer on many of Rare??s classic IPs including Donkey Kong Country and Banjo Kazooie, and was Producer on Viva Piñata, Rare??s Avatars for Xbox and Kinect Sports.

Gavin Price (Creative lead): 15 years at Rare. Gavin joined Rare during the N64 era and moved up the design ranks at all levels working on the Banjo Kazooie series, Grabbed by the Ghoulies, Viva Piñata & the Kinect Sports franchise.

Steve Mayles (Character art): 22 years at Rare. Steve is responsible for creating the modern looking Kong family through his work on the Donkey Kong Country series, creating Banjo Kazooie and leading character art through Grabbed by the Ghoulies, Viva Piñata & the Kinect Sports franchise.

Steven Hurst (Environment art): 18 years at Rare. Steve began creating backgrounds for the DKC

series, before leading background art for the Banjo Kazooie series, Grabbed by The Ghoulies, Viva Piñata & the Kinect Sports franchise.

Mark Stevenson (Technical art): 20 years at Rare. Mark became lead artist working on the Donkey Kong Country series, continuing in this role for DK64 and Kameo, before eventually becoming a lead designer on the Kinect Sports franchise.

Jens Restemeier (Technical director): 8 years at Rare. Jens joined Rare in 1999 and helped recreate Rare??s best known IPs on Nintendo??s handheld consoles before helping Rare develop its own internal technology and ship Perfect Dark Zero for the Xbox 360 launch.

Andy Robinson (Writer): The only member of the team who wasn??t employed at Rare. Andy was a journalist for ten years, editing famous games publication CVG and contributing to Edge and The Sunday Mirror. He??s now a writer at Playtonic.

Plus: Legendary music composers David Wise (Donkey Kong Country), Grant Kirkhope (Banjo-Kazooie) and Steve Burke (Kameo: Elements of Power) will create the score for YOOKA-LAYLEE.