Microsoft confirms Rare's restructuring

Microsoft confirms that UK Rare studio is under review.

As part of the already announced restructuring, Microsoft has told Develop magazine that UK studio Rare may be part of the Xbox division cuts.

The world-renowned UK studio, most recently producing Banjo-Kazooie and Viva Pinata, is undergoing a review in order to ensure it can most efficiently focus on three new areas, which are:

"1) Expand the Xbox 360 customer base by delivering experiences that allow our customers to interact with our content in new and innovative ways.

"2) Better support efforts to extend the appeal of Xbox LIVE as a social entertainment network to drive greater adoption across the Xbox 360 customer base.

"3) Continue delivering AAA gaming experiences that excite both our current and future customers."

Microsoft adds that they will be implementing a new approach to current and future development projects by attempting to achieve a "more efficient and scalable development process."

In order to deliver these goals, the company is "reviewing the current composition of its development teams and there is the possibility that a small number of current positions could be lost as a result of these changes."

Despite announcing similar restructuring, Sony has yet to bring the hammer down on their PlayStation division. However, such a move appears to be almost inevitable.

Rare manager Mark Betteridge comments on Microsoft's move:

"As the entire industry struggles to address the increasing scale and cost of development, we too have felt a need to restructure our current approach so we can speed development and better manage the scale required to create high quality games. With four projects recently underway, now is the right time to make this change.

"Throughout its history, Rare has demonstrated a willingness to embrace new approaches and commitment to delivering game-changing experiences to our customers. This announcement is no different and builds on that tradition as we work with [Microsoft Games Studio] to make interactive entertainment as culturally relevant in people's lives as books, movies and television are today."

Source: Developmag.com