Banjo-Kazooie composer has "zero hope" for new game, says fans would "slag it off no matter how good it was"
"All you diehard fans would instantly hate it."
Legendary video game composer Grant Kirkhope has said he has "zero hope" of seeing a new Banjo-Kazooie game.
Writing on social media last night, Kirkhope went on to suggest that any new attempt at reviving the dormant platforming franchise was doomed to failure, as "diehard fans would instantly hate it" regardless of "how good it was".
Kirkhope is famous for having scored a swathe of classic titles from the heyday of British development powerhouse Rare. He penned the scores of GoldenEye 007, Donkey Kong 64 and Perfect Dark, as well as Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.
More recently, Kirkhope's fame has been revived with work on more modern platformers, including the distinctly Banjo-esque Yooka-Laylee, as well as Ubisoft's Mario + Rabbids games.
"I hope that last tweet didn't come across as mean," Kirkhope added, several hours later. "The Banjo fanverse is a wonderful thing, the reaction when Banjo got into Smash Bros. is something I'll remember for the rest of my life ??"
Fans of the classic Banjo-Kazooie games have long called for a new installment from developer Rare, but to date there's been no suggestion that one is in the works.
Rare itself is busy maintaining hit pirate live-service Sea of Thieves, and has the long-in-development fantasy game Everwild next on its docket.
Still, Banjo-Kazooie's popularity endures. Classic games in the franchise have been re-released over the years, including via Xbox's Rare game compilation Rare Replay, as well as on Nintendo Switch Online. And, as Kirkhope mentioned, Microsoft gave the nod for the characters to turn up in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Could there still be hope for Banjo and Kazooie yet?