Hey there Legend! Just to bring to your notice that some links and ad banners on this page are affiliates which means that, if you choose to make a purchase, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We greatly appreciate your support!
Rare’s Cancelled Everwild Surfaces in New Leaked Screens: A Final Glimpse at an Extinct Fantasy
October 15, 2025Leaked screenshots from Everwild, the game Rare hyped as its next big thing before Microsoft’s cancellation, have just surfaced, offering the clearest look yet inside a project that’s now officially extinct. These images slipped out via a former artist’s personal portfolio and were first flagged by mp1st. They show the game in late-stage development, right before its plug was pulled earlier this year during Microsoft’s sweeping layoffs.
A Glance at What Might Have Been
The images aren’t just pretty vistas. You get to see actual UI elements: a detailed inventory menu cycles through categories like Favourites, Figments, Tools, Mosaics, Seeds, and Plants. Figments stand out; they look like quirky, plant-like creatures, hinting that Everwild wasn’t just about soaking up scenery but collecting and interacting with its bizarre wildlife, too.
On the menu’s side, the playable character stands in a circle of stones. The menu system suggests some blend of farming or base building mechanics, but the real gameplay hook is still a mystery. These features might have been side systems or, possibly, the heart of Everwild’s gameplay. No one outside of Rare will ever know for sure.
Other screenshots pick apart settings menus and show off blurry, dreamlike landscapes, reinforcing how much Rare’s art team was betting on mood and distinctive style. It’s all frustratingly incomplete, a tantalising taste with no meal to follow.
The End of a Dream at Rare
Everwild was first announced back in 2019. Instead of a deep dive, fans got a lush, animated trailer packed with fantastic environments and weirdly wonderful creatures, enough to ignite excitement and speculation, but not enough to clarify what players would actually do.
The following year, Rare dropped another trailer. This time, “Eternals”, the player characters were shown interacting with the world, soothing mythical animals. Even then, the gameplay loop wasn’t spelt out. Was it a co-op adventure? A crafting-heavy life sim?
By early 2025, the project seemed quiet. Phil Spencer, Microsoft Gaming’s CEO, tried to reassure everyone. “It has been [a while],” he said. “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.”
That time dried up fast. Microsoft’s January layoffs hit Rare hard, and Everwild was quietly cancelled before it could answer the basic question: what kind of game was it?
Now, the only official project left on Rare’s plate is Sea of Thieves, their live-service pirate hit. Meanwhile, these leaks deepen the sting for fans who were holding out hope for the studio’s next evolution.
This isn’t the first time unreleased Rare projects have been exposed by accidental leaks. Screenshots from a cancelled reboot of the Perfect Dark series also recently appeared online, suggesting a pattern: there’s more happening in Rare’s labs than gamers ever see, and not all of it survives the business realities of game publishing.
If you were excited by Everwild’s trailers, these new screens are a bittersweet farewell. They’re a peek behind the curtain at a fantasy that will now only live in concept art and rumours.
Share this:
While games are fun, it’s highly important to note that there’s more to life than sitting countless hours playing video games – there’s a purpose and more to life; seek out that purpose more often!
