After successfully launching their first Kickstarter title, Playtonic Games is moving forward in plenty of new directions. The team behind 2017’s open-world platformer, Yooka-Laylee, has been restructuring behind the scenes. After producing and self-publishing their sequel, Yooka-Laylee, and the Impossible Lair, the team has bigger plans for the future of their brand. Created by a whole slew of past Rareware employees, the team sought to create new experiences based on their past exploits together. All of whom worked at Rare during the developer’s golden years and had the vision of recapturing that magic. While some may argue that their attempt at creating a spiritual successor lost some of its luster, the team is determined to move forward to even greater heights. After 5 years since the launch of their first Kickstarter, the company seeks to give other studios that same respect. Announced today through their Twitter page was the official rebranding to Playtonic Friends as they move to start more publishing efforts in the future.
Let’s be Playtonic Friends pic.twitter.com/BnAjFs5rEn
— Playtonic (@PlaytonicGames) February 12, 2021
The announcement comes as a direct response to similar leaks from several sources now reporting on a new brand for the studio. Going forth, Playtonic Friends will focus on a few other well-known indie studios to support their developing efforts. All of these developers are working on their creative iterations of lateral platforming in unique ways, much like Playtonic’s own gaming origins. These teams include Awe Interactive, most notable for their recent title, Bullets Per Minute, which just launched this past September. The other developing studios include Okidokico, which has created many mobile titles, and Fabraz with their colorful pixel art titles. As more studios move into mobile gaming, it’s clear as to why Playtonic would want to start publishing more titles. However, the core team at Playtonic will be staying on the development side of operations to ensure more unique titles from the company to release as well.Â
So what do you expect from these studios now that Playtonic Games is assisting in publishing efforts? Be sure to let us know in the comments down below!