Rare

Video game developer · United Kingdom · Active

Rare

Founded in 1985

104
games developed: 1
games published: 0
in development

History of Rare

Rare was founded in 1985 by brothers Tim and Chris Stamper, who had earlier set up Ultimate Play the Game, maker of ZX Spectrum games such as Jetpac and Knight Lore. They saw the Spectrum as a dead end and turned to Nintendo's Famicom instead. After taking the console apart to learn how it worked, they showed their demos to Nintendo, which gave them an unlimited budget to make games. They moved into a farmhouse in Twycross, England, and sold the Ultimate brand to U.S. Gold.

In its early years Rare made dozens of NES games for publishers such as Tradewest, including R.C. Pro-Am (1988), Snake Rattle 'n' Roll and Battletoads (1991), known for its difficulty. It spent the profits on Silicon Graphics workstations for 3D modelling. That won Nintendo over: in 1994 it bought a 25% stake, later raised to 49%, and offered Rare its characters. The Stampers asked for Donkey Kong, and the result was Donkey Kong Country (1994).

With Nintendo, and under the Rareware name, came Killer Instinct (1994), GoldenEye 007 (1997), which earned it the BAFTA for Best UK Developer, Diddy Kong Racing (1997), Banjo-Kazooie (1998), Perfect Dark (2000) and Conker's Bad Fur Day (2001). Star Fox Adventures (2002) was its only GameCube game. Microsoft bought the studio on 24 September 2002. Rare kept characters such as Banjo and Conker, while those created by Nintendo, such as Donkey Kong, stayed with Nintendo.

Under Microsoft it made Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero (2005) for the Xbox 360 launch, Viva Piñata (2006) and the Kinect Sports series. The Stampers left in 2007. In 2015 it released Rare Replay, a collection of 30 of its games, and in 2018 Sea of Thieves, which still gets regular updates and has also come to PlayStation 5. Microsoft cancelled Everwild in 2025, and in September 2026 Rare moved from Xbox Game Studios to Activision, also owned by Microsoft. It is still based in Twycross.

Milestones

1985
Tim and Chris Stamper found Rare.
1991
Battletoads.
1994
Nintendo buys a 25% stake; Donkey Kong Country is released.
1997
GoldenEye 007.
1998
Banjo-Kazooie.
2002
Microsoft buys Rare.
2007
The Stamper brothers leave the company.
2018
Sea of Thieves.
2026
It moves from Xbox Game Studios to Activision.

Its best-known games

Donkey Kong Country
1994 · SNES · Wii · WiiU
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
1995 · SNES · Wii · WiiU
GoldenEye 007
1997 · N64
Banjo-Kazooie
1998 · N64
Sea of Thieves
2018 · Series X|S · PC · PS5
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
1996 · SNES · Wii · WiiU
Diddy Kong Racing
1997 · N64
Donkey Kong 64
1999 · N64 · WiiU
Perfect Dark
2000 · N64
Banjo-Tooie
2000 · N64
Battletoads
1991 · Amiga CD32 · Amiga · famicom
Conker's Bad Fur Day
2001 · N64

Every game it has developed (104)

2023

GoldenEye 007 Series X|S, XONE

2020

Battletoads PC, XONE

2018

Sea of Thieves Series X|S, PC, PS5, XONE

2015

Grabbed by the Ghoulies XONE

2014

Kinect Sports Rivals XONE

2013

Boxing Fight X360
Ping Pong X360

2011

Kinect Sports: Season Two X360

2010

Kinect Sports X360
Perfect Dark X360

2009

Banjo-Tooie X360

2008

Banjo-Kazooie X360
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts X360
Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise NDS
Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise X360

2007

Jetpac Refuelled X360
Diddy Kong Racing DS NDS

2006

Viva Piñata PC, X360

2005

2004

It's Mr. Pants GBA, Mobile
Donkey Kong Country 2 GBA
Sabre Wulf GBA

2003

Grabbed by the Ghoulies XBOX, NGC
Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge GBA, Mobile
Donkey Kong Country GBA

2002

Star Fox Adventures NGC

2001

Mickey's Speedway USA GBC
Conker's Bad Fur Day N64

2000

Banjo-Tooie N64
Donkey Kong Country GBC
Mickey's Speedway USA N64
Perfect Dark GBC
Perfect Dark N64
Donkey Kong GB: Dinky Kong & Dixie Kong GBC, 3DS

1999

Donkey Kong 64 Lore Quiz browser
Donkey Kong 64 N64, WiiU
Mickey's Racing Adventure GBC
Jet Force Gemini N64
Conker's Pocket Tales GBC

1998

Banjo-Kazooie N64

1997

Diddy Kong Racing N64
Donkey Kong Land III 3DS, Game Boy
GoldenEye 007 N64
Blast Corps N64

1996

Killer Instinct Gold N64
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! SNES, Wii, WiiU, New 3DS
Donkey Kong Land 2 3DS, Game Boy
Ken Griffey Jr.'s Winning Run SNES
Killer Instinct 2 Arcade

1995

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest SNES, Wii, WiiU, New 3DS
Killer Instinct Game Boy
Killer Instinct SNES
Donkey Kong Land 3DS, Game Boy

1994

Monster Max Game Boy
Donkey Kong Country: Competition Cartridge SNES
Donkey Kong Country SNES, Wii, WiiU, New 3DS
Killer Instinct Arcade
Battletoads Arcade, SNES

1993

Snake Rattle 'n' Roll Genesis/MegaDrive
Battletoads Game Gear
Battletoads / Double Dragon Game Boy
Battletoads In Battlemaniacs SNES, SFAM
Battletoads / Double Dragon NES
Battletoads in Ragnarok's World Game Boy
Battletoads Genesis/MegaDrive
Beetlejuice: Horrific Hijinx from the Neitherworld! Game Boy

1992

R.C. Pro-Am II NES
Wizards & Warriors III: Kuros - Visions of Power NES

1991

WWF Superstars Game Boy
Super R.C. Pro-Am Game Boy
Battletoads Game Boy
Sneaky Snakes Game Boy
High Speed NES
Battletoads Amiga CD32, Amiga, famicom, NES
Beetlejuice NES

1990

Captain Skyhawk Arcade, NES
The Amazing Spider-Man Game Boy
Digger T. Rock: The Legend of the Lost City NES
Super Glove Ball NES
A Nightmare on Elm Street NES
Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship Arcade, NES
Time Lord NES
Jeopardy!: 25th Anniversary Edition NES
Snake Rattle 'n' Roll NES
Pin-Bot Arcade, NES
Wheel of Fortune: Family Edition NES

1989

Jeopardy!: Junior Edition NES
Who Framed Roger Rabbit NES
Jordan vs. Bird: One on One NES
Cobra Triangle NES
Taboo: The Sixth Sense NES
Sesame Street: 1-2-3 NES

1988

Jeopardy! NES
WWF Wrestlemania NES
Double Dare C64, DOS, NES
Anticipation NES
R.C. Pro-Am Arcade, Genesis/MegaDrive, NES

1987

Wizards & Warriors famicom, NES
Slalom NES

1986

Vs. Slalom Arcade

Games it has published without developing them (1)

Battletoads / Double Dragon 1993