Everwild

"Our world has a rhythm. We all sense it, but only a few truly feel it."

 is a nature-focused action-adventure game from Xbox Game Studios in development from Xbox Game Studios by Rare for the Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, and Microsoft Windows. It was announced on November 13, 2019 with a reveal trailer at the X019 event in London, and a second trailer was released at the Xbox Games Showcase in July 2020.

The title is set in a natural and magical world filled with unusual creatures, in which a group of humans, called Eternals, are charged with watching over and nurturing all life.

Synopsis
Introducing Everwild, a brand new IP from Rare. Unique and unforgettable experiences await in a natural and magical world.

Summary
Inspired by the beauty of the natural world around us, Everwild is a brand-new game in development from Rare where unique and unforgettable experiences await in a natural and magical world. Play as an Eternal as you explore and build bonds with the world around you.

Development
Everwild is being developed by British developer Rare, the same studio that developed Sea of Thieves, for Windows and Xbox One, with design director Gregg Mayles confirmed returning as the game's creative director. Rare had started their pre-production for Everwild in 2016 with Simon Woodroffe, the game's initial creative director, whose last project was Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, until his departure from the company, which led to a complete overhaul of the game's design and direction, as well as significant changes to its senior leadership. According to people with knowledge of Everwild's development, the game's design has essentially been "restarted from scratch." In addition, leadership shifted to executive producer, Louise O'Connor, whose previous credits include Conker's Bad Fur Day, Viva Piñata, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, and Kinect Sports. Rare's studio art director, Ryan Stevenson, is helming the visual direction for the project, having previously led art for Viva Piñata and Sea of Thieves. The game's lead designer is former Lionhead designer James Blackham, who joined Rare from Square Enix last year specifically to work on the game. There are around 25 publicly confirmed Everwild developers, although the current team is closer to 50 people with plans to grow to a much larger size.

Studio head Craig Duncan mentioned that Rare had not discussed Everwild publicly because it is still "playing around with gameplay ideas," particularly on "building an experience that allows for new ways to play in a natural and magical world." The game was reportedly shaping up to be a "third-person adventure with god-game elements" last year; however, after leadership mandated that there be no combat in the game, complications begun to arise in the design. It is unclear how many of the aforementioned features—or lack thereof—will remain as development continues. One thing that is final is that Rare wants to create "a world that [players] can just lose themselves in," with a particular focus on nature. Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg stressed during an interview that the game will be "something really unique" and "something truly special." Blackham also claims "it's something the world doesn't have and hasn't seen before." A trademark filing a year ago suggested that the game could have live service elements.

In November 2019, Everwild was announced at Microsoft's XO19 event in London, where it was confirmed that the title was still in pre-production, with Duncan describing the game as a "truly original and incredibly special" project from Rare that "aims to be more than just a new IP." In July 2020, a second trailer was released at the Xbox Games Showcase, revealing more of Everwild's magical world and peculiar creatures, and introducing the player characters. In September 2020, Rare released a director's commentary hosted by O'Connor and Stevenson, exhibiting some of the game's concept art and describing how many creatures and environments in the game are inspired by the real world, including creatures that rely on living within other creatures in order to survive; but with a small twist to ensure they fit in the game. The video also explains that the player characters are called 'Eternals,' humanoids who have a special connection with the game's animals—one that is symbiotic —and their mission to protect the world of Everwild from a locust-like plague that threatens the land and the creatures within it. Although Rare still hasn't confirmed the Everwild release date, the developer is now "optimistically" targeting a 2024 release date—10 years after the project was allegedly started.

During an interview with Kinda Funny Games, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty said that reports development on the game, those of which emphasized it had "reset," was "more definite and a little more extreme" than the truth, and suggested the challenges Rare has faced are a natural part of the creative process. Booty has also said that Rare's Everwild team wants to make sure it has "something special" before showing the game publicly again, as they "don't want to keep things hidden for too long."

Music
The music will be composed by Robin Beanland, who has created the soundtracks for games such as Killer Instinct, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Jet Force Gemini, and Sea of Thieves.

Accessibility
The developers have declared that they will "tell Everwild's story in a way that's accessible to as many people as possible." As a first step in this commitment, they have been releasing audio description versions of the trailer videos, voiced by Everwild senior narrative designer, Kate Jarrett.

Trivia

 * The logo of Everwild shows a human, an animal, and a spirit circling around two concentric rings.