There was once a time when Banjo-Kazooie was rightly considered to be a close rival to the Super Mario franchise when Rare launched two outstanding entries on N64 in the form of the self-titled debut and its sequel, Banjo-Tooie.
That was a long time ago, though. While Microsoft flirted with idea of growing the franchise in 2008 with the rather divisive Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, the publisher hasn’t touched it in the years since. According to Moon Studios’ (Ori and the Blind Forest, Will of the Wisps) CEO Thomas Mahler on social media, however, this was perhaps the wrong move, and Microsoft may well be sitting on something that could, with the right treatment, rival 3D Mario games on modern consoles (thanks, Pure Xbox):
“They have been sitting on Banjo Kazooie with nothing happening there even though a really talented developer could probably make a Banjo game that could rival 3D Mario and probably sell similar numbers.”
He also goes on to say that “Xbox doesn’t really have any family friendly titles now, at least nothing of quality that they’re known for”. Meanwhile, Sony made waves in 2024 with the launch of Astro Bot, an exceptional 3D platformer that many compared favourably to some of Nintendo’s very best. Perhaps this success could give Microsoft the nudge it needs to get cracking on a new Banjo game.
If Microsoft does revive Banjo-Kazooie in the years to come, one does wonder whether it would come to Nintendo’s upcoming Switch 2 in addition to Xbox. There are rumours that the company is looking to bring Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Flight Simulator, and Diablo IV to the console, and with Banjo’s history with Nintendo, we honestly wouldn’t be surprised to see it.