Update 02/07/2025: In a statement obtained by Windows Central, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty confirmed the cancellation of Everwild and the cancellation of the Perfect Dark game in development. Booty also confirmed the shuttering of Perfect Dark studio, The Initiative.
"We have made the decision to stop development of Perfect Dark and Everwild as well as wind down several unannounced projects across our portfolio," Booty writes.
Original Story:
As new information regarding Microsoft's mass layoffs continues to trickle out online, the first reported project casualty appears to be Rare's next major title, Everwild, which Bloomberg, VGC, and others are now reporting has been cancelled as part of the cuts.
Everwild was first publicly announced in 2019, and has reportedly been in the works for the better part of a decade. Just months prior to this reported cancellation, Microsoft's chief executive officer of its gaming division, Phil Spencer, commented on Everwild, saying that it was "making good progress." Now, it seems, we'll never know what that progress looked like, or get to see what Everwild would have become.
Which is unfortunate, though, that being said, its cancellation comes as less of a shock considering the reports regarding its development journey. It had previously been described as a "real mess," due in part to the fact that when Everwild was revealed in 2019, Rare wasn't entirely sure what kind of game it was due to become.
The visuals featured in its reveal trailer and in media presented following the announcement always captivated players, but the question around what kind of game it was going to be was never entirely answered.
Regardless, Rare is one of the industry's most iconic and respected studios for good reason. Whatever Everwild was going to become, players would have expected an incredible game, because that's what Rare is known for making.
Which only compounds the news of the game's cancellation, because it also means that Rare will lose some of its talented employees. Details around how many are being laid off remain unclear, as Microsoft is seemingly drip-feeding the news of just how many people have been impacted. According to reports, a total of 9,000 people across Microsoft are being laid off today.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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