Summary

  • Banjo-Kazooie composer Grant Kirkhope has "zero hope" for a new game in the series.
  • The recent success of fellow 3D platformer Astro Bot prompted discussion of reviving the beloved franchise.

Banjo-Kazooie composer Grant Kirkhope has recently revealed that he has “zero hope” for another game in the series and believes that the community would not accept a new project well. Banjo-Kazooie is among the most beloved franchises of the late 90s, but it has been dormant for a while.

The original Banjo-Kazooie was released for Nintendo 64 in 1998, with a sequel coming out in 2000. Two games were released for the Game Boy Advance during the 2000s, and the last title in the series was Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts in 2008. With the recent huge success of Astro Bot, which won The Game Awards as GOTY last year, people are talking about the old-school franchise once more.

Astro Bot on the left and Super Mario Odyssey on the right
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Now, the composer who worked on the original Banjo-Kazooie, Grant Kirkhope, has revealed that he’s not hopeful for a new game in the franchise. On social media, Kirkhope stated he has “zero hope” for a new Banjo-Kazooie game and that the title would likely be hated by die-hard fans “no matter how good it was.” To explain his earlier comments, Kirkhope later replied that he wasn’t trying to be “mean,” and his remarks were inspired by the community’s negative reaction to the introduction of Banjo into Super Smash Bros. At the time, the introduction of the new character was widely criticized by some segments of the Super Smash Bros community.

Banjo-Kazooie Composer Believes New Game Would Be Hated By Die-Hard Fans

Kirkhope’s comments came on the heels of the CEO of Moon Studios, Thomas Mahler, who recently suggested that a Banjo-Kazooie return could rival 3D Mario games in sales. Banjo-Kazooie developer Rare is currently owned by Microsoft, and with the recent success of Astro Bot, it was suggested that this release could be good for Xbox.

In any case, this is not the only time that the idea of bringing back the Banjo-Kazooie franchise was suggested. Last year, Psychonauts 2 developer Double Fine shut down hopes of making a Banjo-Kazooie game. At the time, fans were asking the company to develop the game, but the developers answered that, despite both Double Fine and Rare being owned by Microsoft, they were more interested in making their own games instead of bringing back franchises such as this one and Conker’s Bad Fur Day. Fans may still see a new Banjo-Kazooie game in the future, especially now that 3D platformers are becoming popular again. However, it’s impossible to tell what the future holds.

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Banjo-Kazooie Tag Page Cover Art

Banjo-Kazooie
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3D Platformer
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Systems
Xbox-1
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Released
June 28, 1998
ESRB
E for Everyone
Developer(s)
Rare
Publisher(s)
Nintendo
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Banjo-Kazooie
5 Images
Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Kazooie gameplay
Banjo-Kazooie N64 Banjo Standing In A Field
Banjo & Kazooie during the opening cutscene of Banjo-Kazooie for N64
banjo-kazooie box art
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WHERE TO PLAY

SUBSCRIPTION
DIGITAL
PHYSICAL
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The bear and bird's first ever outing available in full. Loads of rollicking fun to be had here and with the legendary Stop N Swop feature reinstated. You’ll never look the same again at a jigsaw. There are no refunds for this item

Platform(s)
N64, Xbox 360
Genre(s)
3D Platformer
How Long To Beat
11 Hours
X|S Optimized
No
File Size Xbox Series
576 MB (November 2023)