A Twitter account for Playtonic Games is teasing a mysterious title called Project Ukulele, which a recent tweet describes as a "new platformer from some of the core team behind Banjo-Kazooie."
The new and independent studio is composed of former employees of Rare, the U.K. studio behind franchises like Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong Country and Viva Piñata.
"We’ve got the bloke who programmed Donkey Kong Country, the character designer behind Banjo and Kazooie, and the artist who made your console fit to burst with lavish environments across a decade’s worth of adventure games," Playtonic’s official site reads.
The official site also describes Project Ukulele, the studio’s first game, as "a worthy spiritual successor to those fondly remembered platforming adventures we built in the past." The developers promise more information on the budding game, a teaser image for which you can see above, and the studio in the coming months.
As far back as fall 2012, "core members" of the team that created Banjo-Tooie, the 2000 Nintendo 64 platformer, declared their interest in creating a spiritual successor.
"It wouldn't be to try and recreate Banjo. It would be something new," a September 2012 tweet from what is now the Playtonic Games Twitter account reads.
Another ex-Rare developer, Chris Seavor, released a mobile game in late 2012 called Parashoot Stan. Like Playtonic, Seavor’s post-Rare work came from a small, independent studio called Gory Detail.
"Gory Detail is just the beginning of what I hope will develop into a really creative, solid and respected developer," Seavor told Polygon just before the game’s release. "But never a big one. Small is the key. As I said, we have a long-term plan (although the crystal ball starts to fail after five years or so, plenty of time), so the thing to remember about Parashoot Stan is it's just a small and very personal beginning. We are making the games we want to make, without interference or pressure from publishers, etc. Creative freedom. It's the way to go. Keep watching."
Yesterday, the Gory Details Twitter account congratulated the new studio.
Hey! Another ex-Rare team just up the road from us! Great to see some familiar faces @PlaytonicGames http://t.co/7DdRRzT6uy
— Gory Detail (@GoryDetail) February 10, 2015