Now independent studio Toys for Bob is currently working on the grand return of Spyro the Dragon. Launching in Spring 2027, Spyro: A Realm Reborn is almost upon us, but could the studio work on a Banjo-Kazooie game next?
Fans of Rare have been clamouring for a new Banjo-Kazooie game for almost two decades now, and we’re still no closer to a sequel. However, in an interview with Kinda Funny, Toys for Bob studio head Paul Yan and associate creative director Lou Studdert teased that they’d love to work on a new game in the series.
When asked if working on Banjo-Kazooie had ever been “talked about” at the studio, Yan responded, “how frequently, you mean?” As a developer that has worked on platformers for decades, many developers working at Toys for Bob are huge fans of Rare’s series with many using images from the series as their work profile pictures.
“It’s a franchise we love,” Studdert continued. “As platformers, as platformer fans, Banjo’s the top of the heap. We have huge, huge fans of that franchise on our staff. You know, I’m talking they have the Jiggy as their profile pic, that sort of thing, that level of fan.”
Right now, Toys for Bob isn’t working on a Banjo-Kazooie game, but Studdert explains that they would jump at the bit to work on the series. “If an opportunity ever arose, that’d be amazing, but we love the franchise.”
“If you look at the throughlines of the types of games that we like to make, I can imagine that’s part of that stable as well,” Yan continued. “Like those characters, you know, I think you described as nostalgic. I think that’s one way of looking at them. I think of them as timeless.”
Yan explained that Toys for Bob wants to make games “that speak to a timeless place in the player as well, an ageless place”, adding that Rare’s platformers are “wonderful games”. Of course, that doesn’t mean the studio will immediately get a chance to work on Banjo-Kazooie, but it seems that Toys for Bob would if they were given the chance.
Right now, the last original Banjo-Kazooie game is still the controversial 2008 release of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. While the game has returned in various remasters and ports over the years—including its brand-new Evercade version which includes cut content—no new game has come.
Nevertheless, as Xbox continues its reset, there is hope that Banjo could, one day, make a return, whether that’s under the wing of Rare, Toys for Bob, or another studio. (Could Playtonic create a decent Banjo game? Maybe!)
