Rare Celebrates 40th Anniversary With Controller, Dynamic Background, and Thank You Message - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 04 August 2025 / 3,353 Views
Rare is celebrating its 40th anniversary as it was founded back in 1985.
"40 years of Rare," said the developer in a statement. "From devoted Rare gamers to single-series stalwarts, we want to show our appreciation for anyone who's visited even just one of our worlds. For keeping an assorted ragtag of creatives working magic in the Midlands, only two words will do: THANK YOU.
"It’s impossible to quantify just how much enjoyment you’ve brought to my life and the influence you’ve had in shaping who I am today because of your wonderful games. 40 years has flown by, here’s to the next 40! Congrats and thank you!"
40 years of @rare.co.uk.
To celebrate the anniversary, new gamerpics and a dynamic background are available.
"Xbox people! Want to be represented by a snack-brandishing astronaut? Fancy being greeted by a gaggle of cartoon mugs on your home screen? You're in luck!" said Rare. "New gamerpics and a character-filled dynamic background to mark 40 years of Rare are available now. Enjoy."
While it has yet to officially be announced a listing for a Rare 40th Anniversary Edition controller from 8BitDo has been spotted on Amazon. The controller features Hall Effect sticks, Pro Back Buttons, and works on the Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, Android, and iOS.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky.
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Would have been a good time to release Rare Replay on Playstation and the Switch, maybe add a few games to it for Xbox like Wizards and Warriors.
i would purchase rare replay on the switch
All things considered, does seem rather strange that they didn’t do this.
Its literally $15 on Ebay if you really want to play it
Plus the cost of an Xbox Series X or Xbox One.
Seems like a decision they made.
sure would be nice to get a Banjo threezee, Rare was top of the food chain in the N64 times!
Bit on the nose having Banjo, Conker, Joanna Dark, Battletoads and more in that image... All I.P's they have done nothing with or just cancelled...
Doesn't change the past. Those games will always be top tier regardless
Which actually makes it even more depressing, amazing games shouldn't fall into obscurity.
Good things never last
It's a kick in the guts.
Go play Rares Replay, relive it.
Studio heads at Rare have said they would rather work on new IPs, and MS has respected that. With that said, we did get a new Battletoads in 2020 which I thought was good. 2014 was Killer Instinct. Of course we know about Perfect Dark situation. Could MS do more with these IPs? Sure, but if the studio that created these IPs doesn't want to to work on them, then it makes it a bit harder to find a 3rd party studio capable of doing these IPs justice. We literally saw how things can go terribly with Perfect Dark lol.
Maybe Rare will decide to revist past IPs some day.
That controller looks great. Def have to get one
15 years of great games! And, they existed for the next 25 years too.
I would like some of that Rare honey!
Wow... Evercade is getting a Rare Collection 1 cart this November. https://evercade.co.uk/cartridges/rare-collection-1/
Disappointing... I'd expect the controller to be an official XB one, not a 3rd party (no matter how good 8bit is). This is a huge missed opportunity for MS to make a proper themed controller with various Rare characters emblazoned on it.
Controller is US only aswell..
You can buy from the official website.
You know MS and Sony do not even use hall effect sticks right (unless I am wrong)? They are shit controllers otherwise to be honest.
8-Bit Do Brand is actually better than the official Xbox Controller, and has Halle Effect Sticks.
the first party xbox controller has the better dpad. Otherwise i agree 9bitdo is otherwise better
Wish they were freed from Microsoft's AI loving shit covered claws.
