Banjo-Kazooie Composer Not Convinced People Want Another Banjo-Kazooie Game

Grant Kirkhope, the composer of the Banjo-Kazooie theme song, said in an interview with VGC that a third game in the franchise may never happen because of the difficulty finding the right team to do the game justice. He’s also not convinced there’s enough fan interest to warrant development.

“I feel like you would have to get a team with the mood we had back then and that’s hard to replicate,” he said. “I think Rare would be open to something if they found the right team, but I don’t feel that team exists. Also, I’m not convinced the public wants it either.”

Lead programmer Chris Sutherland also commented on the situation: “I hope someone releases something… some kind of sequel or ‘next game’ in the queue”.

Another developer, Steven Mayles, said his brother and current Rare creative director Gregg Mayles are the ones who decide whether or not there will be a new Banjo. According to Steven Mayles, Gregg “really doesn’t like looking back and treading old ground.”

Banjo-Kazooie was released in 1998 for the Nintendo 64, with the sequel, Banjo-Tooie, arriving in 2000. Both games were ported to other platforms after that. Spin-offs followed in the following years, including Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty’s Revenge in 2003 for Game Boy Advance and Banjo-Pilot in 2005, also for Game Boy Advance. Another game, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, came out in 2008 for the Xbox 360.