Microsoft confirmed on July 2, 2025, that development of Everwild, Rare’s announced new game, had stopped. The decision came amid wider Microsoft and Xbox cuts. It was first reported that day, then confirmed by Xbox Game Studios chief Matt Booty; later Xbox restructuring in 2026 is separate and does not change the game’s canceled status.
Was Everwild canceled?
Yes. On July 2, 2025, Matt Booty said Microsoft had decided to stop development of Everwild and Perfect Dark, while also winding down several unannounced projects. VGC initially reported the news based on sources and updated its report with Microsoft’s confirmation and Booty’s statement. VGC’s July 2 report and the reproduced memo at Game Informer document the announcement.
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Booty described the cancellations and other team changes as part of an effort to “adjust priorities and focus resources” amid a changing industry. Microsoft did not give a specific creative, commercial, or technical reason for ending Everwild.
What was Everwild, and how long had it been in development?
Rare announced Everwild as a new intellectual property in 2019. That public announcement date should not be mistaken for the start of development: VGC reported that the project, counting a prototype phase, had been in development for more than a decade. VGC also reported that developers had struggled to settle on a clear direction, including after a reboot. Those development details are reporting, not an explanation Microsoft gave for the cancellation. VGC’s account covers that reported history; Windows Central’s July 2 coverage also reported on the cancellations.
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What did Rare say about the cancellation?
In a message published alongside a Sea of Thieves developer update on July 15, 2025, Rare acknowledged that ending Everwild affected people across the studio and said it was supporting colleagues whose roles were at risk. The studio also said work on Sea of Thieves would continue as planned. Rare’s message, quoted by Pure Xbox, did not provide a project-specific count of employees who lost roles because of the cancellation.
How does the cancellation relate to later Xbox restructuring?
The cancellation belongs to the July 2025 round of changes. Xbox announcements in 2026 describe later restructuring, not a reversal of the Everwild decision or an explanation for it.
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July 2026: Xbox described a reset
On July 6, 2026, Xbox said none of its publicly announced first-party games or projects were being canceled as part of the reductions covered by that update. That statement concerns those 2026 actions; it does not reinstate Everwild, which Microsoft had canceled the previous year. Xbox Wire’s reset announcement sets out the scope.
September 2026: Rare’s reporting structure changed
In a September 22, 2026 update, Booty said Activision would expand its remit to include Rare. The same update said 268 roles were being eliminated across Halo Studios, other first-party studios, and Xbox Game Studios management and central functions; it described the wider restructuring as roughly three-quarters complete. Those figures describe the 2026 changes, not Rare’s Everwild team or the 2025 cuts. Xbox Wire’s September update provides the stated scope.
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What is not known about Everwild’s cancellation?
- The available statements do not identify one definitive cause for the cancellation.
- They do not establish the game’s budget, exact team size, or how many Rare employees specifically lost roles because of it.
- They announce no plan to revive the project.
- Microsoft’s July 2025 memo cited more than 40 projects in active development across the Xbox Game Studios portfolio; that was a portfolio-wide figure, not an Everwild team or project count.
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