Sea of Thieves fans are concerned for Rare’s future, as the studio has been consolidated under Activision as part of Xbox’s latest reset.
Earlier today, Microsoft announced drastic changes for Xbox’s first-party studios, including layoffs and consolidation. Activision is taking over a lot of different responsibilities at Xbox going forward, including leading the charge on the next Halo game. Sea of Thieves developer Rare has also been put under Activision’s umbrella, leading many to wonder what the future of that team will look like. In the past, Activision has swallowed up beloved teams like Neversoft and put them on Call of Duty to make maps and support the development of the FPS franchise.
“Well, if the years of watching how Activision does things is any indication, then we can expect one thing in the future: Rare as a CoD support team in the CoD mines like every other studio Activision touches,” said a fan.
Some players are hopeful that Rare may have the chance to do something that it is more suited for, such as developing a new Crash Bandicoot game or Banjo-Kazooie, given the studio’s history of making platformers. Nothing has been explicitly outlined for Rare’s future, though, which has given fans some pause.
Activision has been heavily criticized for over-monetizing its games, using generative AI, and oversaturating franchises like Call of Duty to the point that fans began to lose interest, leading some to worry that the same may happen for Sea of Thieves, too.
“Can’t see this being a good thing, if the way Activision has handled COD is anything to go by,” said another fan on Reddit.
“This doesn’t bode well. I’m a lifelong Call of Duty fan, and Activision is probably one of, if not the worst, companies in gaming. Everything they touch withers and dies. Mass layoffs, AI, crazy microtransactions, and all sorts of bullshittery will be commencing in the near future based on their track record,” stated another concerned player.
It will likely take a few years before we can truly measure what kind of impact these changes have. Rare has been in a weird spot for a number of years, so some fans are at least thankful that the studio wasn’t outright shuttered or sold off like other Xbox-owned studios. After thriving in the ’90s and 2000s, Rare was put on Kinect duty by Microsoft in the early 2010s, leading some to believe that this was a misuse of the studio’s time and talents.
Eventually, they developed the highly-popular Sea of Thieves, but outside of that, Rare hasn’t produced much of substance. It spent a decade working on another game known as Everwild, which was canceled last year. The project struggled to make progress, and as a result, the public didn’t see or hear about much of it. It may play a role in whether Rare is given the opportunity to develop its own games going forward or if the team becomes a support studio for Call of Duty and Halo.
Cade Onder
Freelance Writer
Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN’s news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.
