Yooka-Laylee, the spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie by original members of the famed games company Rare, is set to be published by West Yorkshire-based independent label Team17.
Having original turned heads with a successful Kickstarter campaign, Yooka-Laylee is hell bent on bringing back the halcyon days of the mid-to-late ’90s platforming games, where bright environments, the collection of a proverbial tonne of pickups, and zany gameplay were the order of the day.
Speaking in a press release on the partnership, Playtonic Games’ Creative Lead Gavin Price said:
”From the very start we said that we’d welcome only a partner that could genuinely improve the creation of our game, while respecting the independence and creative autonomy of our development team. Team17’s 25-year industry-leading expertise will significantly benefit Yooka-Laylee in a myriad of ways, not least in expanded localisation, improved QA testing, certification and access to vastly better resources for our team. Working alongside such a strong partner will allow the Playtonic team to focus 100% of our efforts on building the best possible version of Yooka-Laylee for backers and new fans alike.”
Additionally, Team17 Managing Director Debbie Bestwick had this to say:
”We have deep respect for the team at Playtonic. They have a very rich heritage and have worked on titles close to the heart of a lot of our team here. We’ve been following their Kickstarter campaign with interest and are delighted to welcome them onto our label and into the Team17 family. I can’t wait to start working together on this great game and hope this is the start of a long term partnership between Team17 and Playtonic.”
Yooka-Laylee is currently chalked in for an October 2016 release on PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, PC, Linux, and Mac platforms.
Are you hoping for a return to the 3D platformers of the 1990s? Let us know in the comments section below.