Rumors can get out of control sometimes, especially when it comes to video games. One recent rumor that gained a little too much traction suggested that Microsoft had either bought Playtonic Games or contracted them to make a new Banjo-Kazooie game. The basis of this rumor was flimsy at best, and to be honest, I think everyone overreacted just a bit. But it’s over now. Playtonic themselves officially debunked all of the rumors earlier today.
So, how did this rumor come about? Well, it all started with a bag. See, former Rare artist Ed Bryan recently joined the Playtonic team. Shortly after this news came out, Bryan posted a picture of a laptop bag with the Microsoft logo plastered on it. Naturally, the internet put on their collective thinking caps and wrongly guessed that Playtonic had been bought by Microsoft.
Well, I never really had any plans to use this again. pic.twitter.com/r3wS18vrrR
— Ed Bryan (@ItsMingyJongo) November 3, 2019
In addition to this, Gavin Price of Playtonic updated his LinkedIn profile, which led to more speculation. In his credits for Playtonic Games, he mentioned untitled games #3, #4, and #5, the last of which he “always thought would be game #1.” This added more fuel to the fire that a new Banjo was on the way.
Playtonic shuts down the rumor mill
It didn’t take long for these rumors to spread everywhere, so Playtonic took to social media this morning to shut it all down. They mentioned that while they would love to work on Banjo-Kazooie again, there are currently no plans for that.
A statement from us! pic.twitter.com/nZHqI5GaYe
— Playtonic (@PlaytonicGames) November 6, 2019
There you have it, folks. As always, please take rumors with a grain of salt. With this rumor especially, fans admittedly might have jumped the gun a little. If a SEGA employee used a Nintendo bag to transport their computer, we wouldn’t automatically assume SEGA was being purchased by Nintendo, would we?
…On second thought, don’t answer that.
Anyway, despite all of this, don’t lose hope for Banjo-Kazooie. Microsoft has become warmer to the property in recent years, so you never know when we may see the bear and bird’s triumphant return.
What do you guys think about this rumor? Did you believe it at all? Let us know in the comments!
