Playtonic hire Rare veterans ahead of Yooka-Laylee launch

Playtonic have announced two new hires just ahead of the release of Yooka-Laylee, games industry veterans Andy Wilson — who’s joining as a producer — and Gary Richards, who’ll be joining the design team.

Wilson worked on Yooka-Laylee’s spiritual successor Banjo Kazooie before moving into a design role on Donkey Kong 3, and working on Banjo Tooei, Conker’s Bad Fur Day and Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts. Richards worked on several handheld titles, among them Donkey Kong Land 3, before ending up as the handheld design director for Rare.

In a blog post announcing the news, Richards said: "Having spent over two decades working with most of the guys at Rare, I already know what a talented and awesome team I have joined. I can sense great things ahead.”

Adam, who had been working in commercial software for a few years before this new role with Playtonic, added: "a couple of years ago, I thought it was time to grow up and jumped into the world of commercial software. Then Playtonic came knocking and that itch to get back into game development became too hard to resist. It’s great to be back with a small team in control of their own destiny.”