Yes, Rare’s Everwild is still in development, and Xbox is committed to giving the team the “time” it needs

Almost six years on from its debut, Xbox CEO of Gaming Phil Spencer has confirmed that Rare’s mysterious fantasy deer adventure Everwild is still in development.

Despite being first revealed in late 2019 with a gorgeous teaser, and then shown again in summer 2020 with a slightly-more revealing trailer, we’ve heard very little about the game.

Talking to the XboxEra podcast, however, Spencer had good news for those who feared the game may have been quietly cancelled, revealing the team was making “progress”.

“I was recently out at Rare. It’s nice to see the team with Everwild and the progress that they’re making,” Spencer said, when asked reflect on what first-party games still in development he was most looking forward to (thanks, VGC).

“It has been [a while]. And we’ve been able to give those teams time in what they’re doing which is good and still have a portfolio like we have.

“It’s like a dream that Matt [Booty] and I have had for a long time, so it’s finally good to be there. We can give those teams time.”

Earlier today we reported that in the same podcast, Spencer said he’s “not trying to move [PS5 and PC players] all over to Xbox anymore”, acknowledging that players are “all so invested in where our games are”, all he wants to do now is “allow more people to play” Xbox games on other systems.

Spencer acknowledged that whilst selling games on competitor devices means Xbox only recoups 70 percent of the sale, that 70 percent still helps Xbox “build great portfolios”.