Yooka-Laylee Update – Game Went Gold, Switch Version Planed, Ex-Rare Dev Joins Team

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Yooka-Laylee is getting released in April 2017! The game was announced recently that it went gold and that development now would be ensuring the game is play tested & in good shape before getting released.

We couldn’t have reached this moment without the incredible support of our backers, fans, family and friends across the games industry. Thanks again for your unwavering enthusiasm for our studio. We hope you enjoy Yooka-Laylee when it releases on April 11!

This is good news and we will be able to get our hands on this promising 3D platforming adventure in April 11th on the PS4, Xbox One and PC. More news outside of a confirmed release date was stated though; a new team member joined Playtonic Games!

Hot on the heels of recent arrivals Andy Wilson (producer) and Gary Richards (designer), please welcome Viva Pinata designer Justin Cook to the Playtonic team! Cook worked in testing on games such as Perfect Dark, Banjo-Tooie and Conker’s Bad Fur Day before joining a tiny team in 2003 to prototype what eventually became Viva Piñata – and ending up as the series’ lead designer. His design credits also include It’s Mr. Pants, the Kinect Sports series and more.

His past work in the gaming industry largely consists of prior Rare productions, so Justin Cook is a great addition to the Playtonic team. They are already filled with former Rare developers, so more joining the studio isn’t shocking honestly. With his past work, it should help Yooka-Laylee and other productions Playtonic developers quality software.
The last part of this update is the status of the games Nintendo version. It was stated that the Wii U version was scrapped due to development difficulties working on the console, so many wondered if they would bring the game onto the Nintendo Switch. Playtonic stated the following regarding a Switch release.

We continue to work closely with Nintendo on plans for a Nintendo Switch version of Yooka-Laylee and more details will be revealed in the future. We’d like to thank our many Nintendo fans for their continued patience and understanding while we form our plans: we hope to make your platform of choice a great place to experience Yooka-Laylee in the future!
Note: Upon release, the Switch version will be delivered to backers via digital game codes and thus no additional upgrade cost is required.

This indicates the the Switch version IS happening but it might not make launch. Most likely situation is that Playtonic didn’t get a Switch development kit last year but most recently got one, so getting the game ported to Switch will take a bit longer then say PS4 or Xbox One (with porting work for those versions being handled by Team 17; Playtonic developed the game for Wii U and PC). Either way, Nintendo owners could either wait it out for the Switch version or change their platform choice to PC or another console.
Sources: Kickstarter Page & Playtonic Website

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