Rare to open a second studio facility in Birmingham
The site is "ideally placed for recruiting new staff", Microsoft says
It was rumoured late last year, and now has been officially confirmed. Rare will open this April a second studio in Birmingham in Digbeth’s Fazeley Studios facilities as a way “to change the current model of games development working practices,” according to a Microsoft press release. These new facilities will “complement Rare’s longstanding headquarters in Twycross,” Leicestershire, as “Fazeley’s main area of focus will be as a production, test and usability site to accommodate Rare’s evolving methodology in game creation.”
“Fazeley studio will be home to some 90 staff working on new Rare games although number will fluctuate with the development cycle,” Microsoft states. This may still come as a surprise for some after Rare’s restructuring process in early 2009 when the future of several employees was compromised. But, according to the PR, “Digbeth is ideally placed for recruiting new staff” since it’s “close to several universities and colleges”.
The Birmingham Post indicates that “Fazeley Studios occupies a 150-year old converted Unitarian chapel and adjoining Sunday School buildings as well as extensive former factory buildings converted to light and spacious studios.”
Rare’s Studio Head Mark Betteridge had this to share with the press: “The old way of making games just doesn’t work anymore, we need to be much more flexible in how we staff a team and setting up new facility in Digbeth will help us to do this. Its central location and the nature of other businesses in the area make it a very appealing environment in which to work. While we are committed to keeping our headquarters in Twycross, we feel a second studio in a more urban location will be appealing to some staff.”
In a long interview with Games Industry Betteridge shared some further ideas about why this was the moment to take this decision: “Teams have become somewhat unwieldy in the development process – very inflexible, very expensive. Over the last six or seven years it’s really started to get out of hand, and companies and teams that were having great success before are realising the same thing.” This won’t mean an exodus from their present facilities, though: “We believe very firmly that Twycross is in our DNA, it’s still going to be very much the centre of of the creative hub of Rare, but the way that development demands are now we need the availability of a greater skillset of people – and we also need them on a time frame that’s more flexible, rather than just employing everybody full time with whatever expertise they have. [...] The creative hub will definitely remain at Twycross, there won’t be a big restructure here or anything of that order.”
And how many people would those new facilities be able to house and with which purpouse? Betteridge answers that, “ballpark, we’ve been looking at in the region of 40-50 people in core development and probably a similar number again in test. Now, test is an important one because while we have a large test area in Twycross which has expanded over the years as projects have gotten bigger [...] Because of the nature of Natal – and it would have been exactly the same with the Wii – to test it properly you need a larger physical space than you had before. [...] With Natal, we believe test is extremely important to get the balance and the content of the game right – because a lot of the people that Microsoft will be appealing to with this technology won’t be traditional games players, and we need to test with a wide range of people, different ages, demographics, and so on.”
Considering the benefits of outsourcing vs. insourcing approach, Betteridge thinks: “Outsourcing is something that a lot of companies have done – especially with art – but it’s not a silver bullet. We believe more in a term I’ve used before and that’s insourcing. Avatars was the perfect example of a small project that we were able to put forward to Microsoft, which was then green-lit and went into full production… we developed that project with just the core people here as employed by Rare, probably four or five people was all it was. But there was sometimes in excess of 30 people, sometimes contractors, working on that project. That’s a simple example, but it shows how we’re able to think. [...] Other people have been doing traditional outsourcing of for many years, and we have some experience of it, but for us – and for fast iteration on fun gameplay – it’s very important that we have a hands-on contact with how this content will be created.”
So, with Rare looking for new employees and more space to test their projects, hopefully this will mean more games or at least no cancelations after Kameo 2, (Not-)Perfect Dark 2 and a secret Natal project came to a sudden end last year, and the recent confirmation of KI3 not being in the works after all.
Somehow related news
- Rare to acquire extra office space at Fazeley Studios ()
- PDZ to be Classic, and new maps uncovered ()
- Rare’s Games on Demand titles range between $20-$30/29.99€ ()
- PDZ and Kameo sold “phenomenally well”; Kameo “still selling” ()
- Piñata demo in time for springtime ()
23 Comments
Ah some good news for once. Expantion in Rare’s studios could possibly lead to better things. Hopefully much better things than Natal.
Comment by Hamilton — 03.Mar.10 @ 4:17 am
What do you mean the old way of making games doesn’t work anymore? That’s what we like best!
Comment by Hudson — 04.Mar.10 @ 12:14 am
Yeah, well if rare had’ve just gone with putting their resources into a traditional banjo kazooie 3, instead of an alternate banjo game, they would have sold millions of copies and everybody would have hope for rare again. I understand they think people would be sick of the way the series is played by now, but it’s been roughly 10 years since the last one and everybody is yearning for that experience again. Sigh… Things couldve turned out much differntly for them if they just opted for traditional. I love rare but they are trying to shift the blame. They went ahead with some unique and risky decisions, and they just need to acept that risky decisions involve just that, a risk. And their project failed. It’s not the gaming audiences fault rare, it’s yours!
Comment by Frmaster — 04.Mar.10 @ 5:32 am
Couldnt have said it better myself
Comment by Billy — 04.Mar.10 @ 6:29 am
Banjo failed because people didn’t care about te franchise anymore, it doesn’t really matter if it was a classic Banjo or not; as strongly as some of us yearn for a good old Banjo, that wouldn’t appeal to mainstream audiences anyway.
I’m not a big fan of the gameplay of Nuts and Bolts, but I doubt that doing things the old way, as much as i’d like that, would grant them any success amongst new players.
Comment by Àlarik — 04.Mar.10 @ 9:49 am Well you old goats can lose faith in Rare all you want, but I know that they will bounce back someday. I’ve enjoyed all their current projects. I feel Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts was some…”Rare” way to introduce the series to a new generation. I didn’t like the fact that it wasn’t a platformer myself, but I didn’t hate the game because of that. I enjoyed the music and graphics only Rare themselves would be able to pull off. All Rare needs to do is leave Microsoft and join Sony and they’ll be fine. Tis’ a shame they have fans who want them back to their roots, but don’t send them letters without actual information that can encourage them to do so. If we really want Rare back to their old roots, we need to prove it.
Comment by Hamilton — 05.Mar.10 @ 12:25 am
hammy. this is the internet age… and rare collaberates with this site often reading polls and answering questions. im sure theyve seen our disgust. letters and snail mail are not needed. they KNOW we’re pissed., problem is they dont care… and if they did, it doesnt matter because their M$’s bitch
Comment by Billy — 05.Mar.10 @ 2:43 am If Rare didn’t care they would be out of the picture by now. Rare is not Sega. They actually care about what fans want. They’re just experimenting with new things to see how they fare with the fans. Nuts & Bolts was merely a test to see how fans would react to the new gameplay methods. Some liked it and some didn’t and I’m sure after the reception they jump started on a sequel which then had to be canceled to work on Wankersoft’s poor excuse for virtual reality Natal. Rare aren’t the bad guys here. Microsoft is. Rare is just forced to work with them because they’re sadly clueless to other great opportunities.
Comment by Hamilton — 05.Mar.10 @ 3:01 am What say you saicom? I havent seen any life from you in months????… But hamm, i somewhat agree. But i believe rare has the capabilities to deliver if theu wanted.. So im not in full agreement. I am pissed at rare but i dont hate them haha
Comment by Billy — 05.Mar.10 @ 7:02 am I just don’t want the Rare fanbase to end up like the Sonic fanbase where people always complain about something.
“Sonic 4 boxart needs for fingers!”
“The first boss battle is too retro!”
“Sonic is still in 3-D!”
That’s the kind of stuff you’ll see when you go to a Sonic fansite. Very very sad.
Comment by Hamilton — 05.Mar.10 @ 11:41 pm I agree that such small complaints are trivial, like for instance if the new banjo WAS a traditional platformer yet his image was still altered to what it is now.. And people complained about what he looks like yes thatd be annoying but the gameplay was something HUGE not small
Comment by Billy — 06.Mar.10 @ 1:21 am Now that IS worth complaining about
Comment by Billy — 06.Mar.10 @ 1:23 am Exactly.
Comment by Hamilton — 06.Mar.10 @ 1:52 am
Billy You miss me? Well I haven’t been here for a long time, hardly news to talk about. I have confidence that Rare will do something great soon, this article is actually pretty good news if you think about it. I really do hope Banjo 4 is announced but with a more 50-50 on foot and vehicle gameplay.
I still think Rare is great as their games are still fun to play, I just think that they should advertise more often so that Microsoft can see their potential in videogames.
good point budd
Comment by Billy — 08.Mar.10 @ 4:35 am NEWS FLASH!!! I just read in the current issue of Game Informer some intresting and depressing news about Natal. I’ll just post some of the important bits:
1. Natal has currently been demoed with a game called Porch Light that Rare appearently worked on for 6 years. “Rare has been working on this one for six years,” Tsunoda said, turning a light on and off by waving his arms, “Their development prowess really shows.” Next he demostrated Avatar games, Handshake, Family Picture, and Hula with the stars, all of which utilize verying ranges of erratic motion.” Fun…
2. More Natal launch games:
Grocery Store Checkout (dear god)
Let’s Jump! (Let’s Not!)
Total Calibration (Total humiliation)
Avatar Closet Plus: Walk-in Edition (Oh boy. More lame clothes)
Is This A Butt (PORNO!!!! Microsoft is forcing Rare to do Porno now!!!)
Comment by Hamilton — 10.Mar.10 @ 11:20 pm Oh my God! They all sound like shitty Indie Games! And Rares’ been working on them for six years?! Well that finally proves that Microsoft is forcing them to do Natal now. FOCK YOU MICROSOFT!!! The lord knows what Is This A Butt is going to be…
Comment by Hudson — 11.Mar.10 @ 1:23 am wow. i have nothing to say except i reallllyyyy hope your wrong 
Hamilton, not to say your wrong but I’m sure those are just fake titles to just throw off people, but who knows right?
Comment by saicambanjo — 11.Mar.10 @ 4:15 pm Well I did read them in Gameinformer, but they also gave Sega All Stars Racing a 7.75 calling it a Mario Kart rip-off and bashing the characters. Stupid bastards. What do they know about a good game?!
Comment by Hamilton — 11.Mar.10 @ 4:35 pm And for all I know these could be early April Fools Jokes.
Comment by Hamilton — 11.Mar.10 @ 4:36 pm i hope! omgggg
Comment by Billy — 12.Mar.10 @ 1:03 am
i really dont give a shit about shovel wear “multi-demographic” garbage. all my hope is lost in rare for the time being.. it appears their only doing natal now. fuck this.
Comment by Billy — 03.Mar.10 @ 1:36 am