Rare Limited is a British video game company that is part of Xbox Game Studios. It is based in Twycross, Leicestershire. Rare creates games in many genres, including platform, first-person shooter, action-adventure, fighting, and racing. Some of its most well-known games include the Battletoads, Donkey Kong, and Banjo-Kazooie series, as well as titles like GoldenEye 007 (1997), Perfect Dark (2000), Conker's Bad Fur Day (2001), Viva Piñata (2006), and Sea of Thieves (2018).

Rare was founded in 1985 by Tim and Chris Stamper, who also started the company Ultimate Play the Game. In its early years, Rare received strong financial support from Nintendo, which helped it create games for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Some of its early successes included Wizards & Warriors (1987), R.C. Pro-Am (1988), and Battletoads (1991). Nintendo later became a major investor in Rare after the release of Donkey Kong Country (1994). During the 1990s, Rare used the name "Rareware" for its games and gained worldwide recognition for titles like the Donkey Kong Country trilogy (1994-1996), Killer Instinct (1994), GoldenEye 007, Banjo-Kazooie (1998), Perfect Dark (2000), and Conker's Bad Fur Day (2001).

In 2002, Microsoft purchased Rare. The company kept its original name, logo, and many of its game properties. After the purchase, Rare focused on creating games for Xbox consoles, including Grabbed by the Ghoulies (2003), Kameo (2005), Perfect Dark Zero (2005), and Viva Piñata (2006). In 2007, Tim and Chris Stamper left Rare to work on other projects. By 2010, the company shifted its focus to Xbox Live Avatar and Kinect technology, releasing three Kinect Sports games. In 2015, Rare released Rare Replay, an Xbox One-exclusive collection of 30 of its games to mark its 30th anniversary. The company's most recent game, Battletoads, was released in 2020.

Some former employees of Rare started their own companies, such as Free Radical Design, known for the TimeSplitters series, and Playtonic Games, known for Yooka-Laylee (2017). Rare is widely respected in the video game industry and has received many awards from critics and journalists. The company is also known for being private and not very public. Games like Donkey Kong Country and GoldenEye 007 are often listed as some of the greatest and most influential games of all time. However, some fans and former employees have criticized Rare's work after Microsoft took over the company.

History

Rare began as a company called Ultimate Play the Game, which was started in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire by Tim and Chris Stamper, two people who had previously made arcade games. After creating many successful games like Jetpac, Atic Atac, Sabre Wulf, and Knight Lore, Ultimate Play the Game became one of the largest video game companies in the UK. The ZX Spectrum, a home computer they often used to make games, was only popular in the UK. The company believed that focusing on the ZX Spectrum would not help them grow, as they saw it as a "dead end." They studied a Japanese console called the Famicom, which they thought was better because it was more advanced, had a global market, and did not have long loading times. In 1985, Rare was created to study the Famicom and learn how to program it. After their research, they sold the Ultimate brand to U.S. Gold and stopped making games for the ZX Spectrum.

Nintendo claimed it was impossible to study the Famicom's design. However, Rare used information they had gathered to create technology demonstrations, which they showed to Nintendo's president, Minoru Arakawa. Impressed, Nintendo gave Rare unlimited money to make games for the Famicom. Rare moved their headquarters from Ashby-de-la-Zouch to Twycross and started a new studio. They also created a company called Rare, Inc., in Miami, Florida, led by Joel Hochberg, who had previously worked at an arcade company called Centuri. The Famicom was later sold in North America and Europe as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

At Rare, the goal was to create games that would be available to players quickly, even if they were not typically seen for years. With the unlimited budget, Rare made many different games. Their first project was Slalom, a downhill skiing game. Over five years, Rare worked with publishers like Tradewest, Acclaim Entertainment, Electronic Arts, Sega, Mindscape, and Gametek to create 60 games. Of these, 47 were for the NES, and the rest were versions for the Game Boy and Sega Genesis. Rare made original games like R.C. Pro-Am, a racing game with combat, and Snake Rattle 'n' Roll, an action platform game. They also made Battletoads, a fighting game inspired by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. After its success, Tradewest asked Rare to make more Battletoads games and even let them create a crossover game with Double Dragon. Rare released three Battletoads games in 1993, and the last one was released for arcades in 1994. Some Battletoads games were also made for Sega systems like the Mega Drive/Genesis. Rare also made games based on movies like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Hollywood Squares, and they made versions of games like Marble Madness and Sid Meier's Pirates!

Four of Rare's games were made by a company called Zippo Games in Manchester, including Wizards & Warriors and Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warship. Later, Rare bought Zippo Games and renamed it Rare Manchester. A Rare employee named Ste Pickford said the company wanted to make as many games as possible during their "window of opportunity." While these games made a lot of money, they were not widely praised for being creative or innovative.

When the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) was introduced, Rare was not ready for the change. They focused on making a few Battletoads games and used their profits from the NES to buy expensive computers called Silicon Graphics workstations to create 3D models. This made Rare one of the most advanced game developers in the UK. They began to prioritize quality over quantity.

Using the Silicon Graphics computers, Rare made a boxing game demo and showed it to Nintendo. Because the SNES could not display all the 3D graphics at once, Rare used the computers to create 3D models and then transferred them to the SNES cartridges through a process called "Advanced Computer Modelling." Nintendo was impressed and bought a 25% share in Rare in 1994, later increasing it to 49%. This made Rare a second-party developer for Nintendo, meaning they could make games for Nintendo but operate independently.

During this time, Rare started using the name "Rareware" for their games. Nintendo gave Rare the right to use its characters to create a 3D game. Rare asked for Donkey Kong, and the result was Donkey Kong Country. The game took 18 months to make and involved 20 people. Rare staff visited Twycross Zoo to study real gorillas for the game. Donkey Kong Country was very successful, selling over nine million copies and winning many awards. It was followed by two sequels and handheld versions like the Donkey Kong Land series.

Nintendo's investment helped Rare grow. The number of employees increased from 84 to 250, and Rare moved out of their old headquarters. They also made a CGI arcade fighting game called Killer Instinct on their own custom machine. Killer Instinct was originally planned for the Nintendo 64 but had to be released for the SNES instead, with lower graphics. It sold 3.2 million copies, and a sequel, Killer Instinct 2, was later made. The console version of Killer Instinct 2, called Killer Instinct Gold, had even lower graphics because of the size of the Nintendo 64 cartridges.

Rare then made Blast Corps for the Nintendo 64, which sold one million copies. At this time, Rare had many teams working on different projects. A large platformer game was delayed, so Rare released smaller projects first. The next major project was later delayed, but Rare continued to develop new games.

Culture

According to Mark Betteridge, one of Rare's main goals is to create games that people will find fun rather than just to make money. The Stamper brothers gave the team a lot of freedom to be creative, but they would step in if a game had technical problems or was not performing well. Some employees said that working for Rare in its early years was difficult, with only 30 minutes for lunch and sometimes working more than 60 hours a week. Nintendo worked closely with Rare, and their relationship was described as a "creative partnership" by Viva Piñata designer Justin Cook. According to Hansen in 2010, innovation is very important to the company, so they try new technology, like the Xbox 360's Kinect. Rare has only made games for video game consoles, not for computers, because the Stamper brothers preferred working on a stable format designed for games. According to Duncan in 2014, Rare only makes games with unique ideas and never creates generic games using their intellectual properties.

Some people say Microsoft was not supportive, but others say they were very helpful. A few employees left Rare after the Microsoft acquisition, believing they did not get to work on their favorite projects. Ed Fries, who led Microsoft Studios' publishing division at the time of the acquisition, said Microsoft tried to keep Rare's culture so employees could still feel like they worked for Rare. Rare employees had different opinions about working conditions after the acquisition. Phil Tossell, a lead engineer for Star Fox Adventures, said the work environment became more stressful after a slow start, and the cultures of the two companies began to clash. Tossell said Microsoft gradually added more company rules, like more meetings and performance reviews, which some Rare employees found hard to adjust to. Some employees said early changes, like allowing team members to talk about projects they were not working on and letting staff use the Internet or listen to music during work, helped improve morale. Betteridge said the overall change was positive, believing Microsoft's support could help Rare develop better games. Gavin Price, a former Rare employee, said some Microsoft leaders, like Phil Spencer, supported Rare. Grant Kirkhope, a former composer at Rare, strongly criticized Microsoft after the acquisition. Peter Moore, a former Xbox executive, said he was disappointed with Rare's work after the acquisition, noting that employees were trying to "recreate the glory years" but their skills were outdated. Duncan said there were still many talented people at Rare and that the company had a "bright future."

Unlike other software developers, Rare was known for being secretive. Cameras watched the entrances to Rare's office buildings in Manor Park near Twycross. Employees worked in separate areas called "barns," where they focused on one game at a time. Tim Stamper said Rare had a different philosophy: they did not work closely with other game companies and hired people who loved games. He said Rare employees were interested in seeing other games being developed and worked together to make the best games possible.

Though Rare was usually secretive, it allowed fansites like Rarenet, Rare-Extreme, and Eurogamer to tour its studio in 1999, 2004, and 2006. In 2010, Rare refused a request from fansite MundoRare to film a documentary for Rare's 25th anniversary. MundoRare later shut down, saying it could not support Rare's new direction. Some critics, like Alex Carlson from Hardcore Gamer, said Rare's secrecy made the company seem "disconnected" from fans and led to games that fans did not want. When Duncan became the studio's leader, he changed the culture by remodeling the office to encourage teamwork and sharing ideas. Rare also became more open to its community, inviting fans to help develop Sea of Thieves.

In 2025, to celebrate Rare's 40th anniversary, 8BitDo released a limited edition controller for Xbox Series X and Series S with the Rare logo and Sea of Thieves branding. Sea of Thieves also added a new hat cosmetic to the game.

Related companies

In 1997, several employees from Rare left to start their own companies. The first was Eighth Wonder, supported by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. The studio closed before creating any games.

After Martin Hollis left Rare, he joined Nintendo and later started his own company, Zoonami. Zoonami created games such as Zendoku, Go! Puzzle, and Bonsai Barber.

Members of the Perfect Dark team, including David Doak and Steve Ellis, formed Free Radical Design and developed the TimeSplitters series. The company was later bought by Crytek and renamed Crytek UK. It closed in 2014, and many employees moved to Deep Silver Dambuster Studios. From 2021 to 2023, Deep Silver briefly revived Free Radical Design, with Ellis and Doak leading the project. Other former Free Radical and Rare employees started Crash Labs, a company that focused on making games for iOS devices.

In 2002, Alex Zoro and Jonny Ambrose, both former Rare employees, co-founded FreeStyleGames (later known as Ubisoft Leamington). The company became famous for the Guitar Hero series. After leaving FreeStyleGames, Zoro started Pixel Toys, while Ambrose shifted focus to creating automobile sculptures through Ambrose Auto Art.

Chris Seavor, the director of Conker's Bad Fur Day, co-founded Gory Detail with Rare employee Shawn Pile. The company released mobile games like Parashoot Stan and The Unlikely Legend of Rusty Pup on Steam.

Starfire Studios was created by four former Rare employees. They released Fusion Genesis, an Xbox Live Arcade game published by Microsoft Game Studios. Another group of former Rare employees started Flippin Pixels, a mobile game studio.

Lee Schuneman, a former Rare employee, led Lift London, a Microsoft studio.

Phil Tossell and Jennifer Schneidereit founded Nyamyam and released Tengami.

In 2014, several former Rare employees started Playtonic Games. They are best known for the Yooka-Laylee series, with the first game being inspired by Banjo-Kazooie.

Rare founders Chris and Tim Stamper joined FortuneFish, a mobile game company started by Tim’s son, Joe Stamper. Their first game was That Bouncy Thing! The Rubbishiest Game Ever for Android.

In 2019, Chameleon Games was created by former Rare developers, including Omar Sawi, Kevin Bayliss, and Richard Vaucher. The studio made Tamarin, a 3D action platformer, for PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Tamarin is considered similar in style to Jet Force Gemini, with music composed by David Wise.

Games

Rare has created many video games since the company was founded. By 2002, they had sold nearly 90 million copies. The company is most famous for its platform games, such as Donkey Kong Country, Banjo-Kazooie, and Conker. They also made first-person shooter games for the Nintendo 64, like GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark. Rare does not focus on just a few types of video games. They have also made action-adventure games, like Star Fox Adventures and Kameo. They created fighting games, such as the Killer Instinct series. Racing games they developed include R.C. Pro-Am and Diddy Kong Racing. They also made beat 'em up and shoot 'em up games, like Battletoads and Captain Skyhawk. Rare's latest game is Sea of Thieves (2018), a pirate-themed open world game for Xbox One and Windows 10. The game is still being updated and has been released on Xbox Series X, Series S, and PlayStation 5. The studio also helped develop Battletoads (2020).

The company has several publicly-known cancelled projects, some of which were officially announced before being cancelled. These include Dream: Land of Giants, which later became Banjo-Kazooie. Perfect Dark Core was originally planned as a sequel to the first Perfect Dark. Black Widow was an open world game where players controlled an eight-legged robot. Sundown featured a survival mode where players fought many enemies at once. The Fast and the Furriest was a racing game with cartoon characters. Tailwind was an action game featuring helicopters. Urchin was a Fable-style game that started development after Live & Reloaded was completed. Ordinary Joe and Savannah were other projects. Savannah was a game for the Kinect motion controller. There were also plans for Kinect versions of Wii Fit and Professor Layton. Other cancelled projects included a sequel to Diddy Kong Racing, a sequel to Kameo, and Everwild, an action adventure game with elements similar to a god game.

Awards

Rare received many awards, including a BAFTA award for "Best UK Developer" for its work on GoldenEye 007. In 1997, Electronic Gaming Monthly named Rare "Most Promising Game Company" because of its many successful games for the Nintendo 64. Rare was awarded the BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Moving Images Award in 2000 for creating Perfect Dark. In 2015, Tim and Chris Stamper were named Development Legends in the Develop Industry Excellence Awards. Rare was listed in Gamasutra's Top 30 Developers of All Time and ranked as the 36th best video game maker by IGN. In 2018, the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum curated a retrospective of the company's work.