A resurgent Rare has once again become a fan-favorite Xbox studio in recent years. After spending the greater part of the past decade developing motion-controlled games for the Xbox One's Kinect, Rare dropped Sea of Thieves in 2018. With a wave of excitement for the pirate live service game behind Rare, the studio announced its next project, Everwild, in late 2019. Yet it seems Rare has some frustrations ahead of itself yet, as the studio recently announced the departure of Everwild's creative director, Simon Woodroffe.
Rare confirmed with media outlet VideoGamesChronicle on Friday that Woodroffe was no longer a part of the studio. "We thank Simon for all his hard work on Everwild and wish him the very best luck for the future," was all Rare had to say regarding Woodroffe. Nothing was said about the reasoning for Woodroffe's departure, though VGC is reporting that he resigned earlier in October and has actually been apart from Rare for the time since. Woodroffe has yet to make a comment publicly, though his Twitter account still lists him as creative director of Everwild.
Woodroffe is a 30-year veteran of the video game industry, going back to his experience as a lead designer in the 90s for games including Simon the Sorcerer and its sequel. Since then, he's taken on the Creative Director role at several studios, including Headfirst Productions, Midway Games, and Longtail Studios. Prior to joining Rare in 2012, Woodroffe was the head of game design at Sega, where he worked on Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed.
As for Everwild itself, Rare did go on to say that the development team is in "good hands" and that the developers remain "passionate about building a game that will give players unforgettable experiences." Given that Everwild doesn't have an announced release window, there's no indication whether or not Woodroffe's departure from Rare impacted the team's development schedule.
According to VGC, Everwild's creative direction is currently being led by Rare executive producer Louise O'Conner. O'Conner's worked with Rare going back to Conker's Bad Fur Day. There's no word on whether O'Conner will fill Woodroffe's role at Rare, though it seems all but certain. Rare will very likely make such announcements as they're able. No creative director roles are currently listed on Rare's job listings.
Little is known regarding Everwild in general. The game has been described as an action-adventure title set in a fantastical and nature-filled setting, perhaps with multiplayer elements. That could be due to the fact that Rare was still figuring out what it wanted to do with Everwild, which may in turn have had something to do with Woodroffe's departure.
Everwild is in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S.