Playtonic Games News Articles
Thursday10th Oct 2019
Video Digital Foundry Thinks Yooka-Laylee And The Impossible Lair Runs Pretty Great On Switch
Find out how the Switch version compares
Earlier this week, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair arrived on the Switch, so how does it hold up compared to other versions? As usual, Digital Foundry has released a technical comparison and we're happy to report it's good news for anyone who has picked up a Nintendo copy. The Switch version runs at a...
Wednesday9th Oct 2019
News Escape 'The Impossible Layer' In Playtonic's New Yooka-Laylee-Inspired Mario Maker 2 Course
Celebrating Impossible Lair's launch
Having released Yooka-Laylee and The Impossible Lair to great reviews just yesterday, we'd like to think the good folks over at Playtonic Games are sitting with their feet up, relaxing after shipping one of them there vidya games. Of course, as with all devs who have just shipped a game, they're probably still...
Tuesday8th Oct 2019
News Playtonic Is Adding Impossible Lair's N64 Tonic To The Original Yooka-Laylee Game
Retro glory
If you pre-ordered Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, you'll get access to a special Yooka 64 Tonic. This formula makes the unlikely duo look like they were created during the Nintendo 64 era. It follows on from an update earlier this year, tha
Monday7th Oct 2019
Video Playtonic On Why Yooka-Laylee And The Impossible Lair Is Worth Your Time And Money
Straight from the chameleon's mouth
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair launches tomorrow, and we've already decided that it's well worth your time. However, what would the lovely folks at Playtonic say if they were making one last, desperate plea to get you to part with your cash? Ponder this question no longer, as we've enlisted those very same...
Sunday9th Jun 2019
News Yooka-Laylee And The Impossible Lair Isn't A Direct Sequel To The First Game
It's a "fresh take"
A few days ago, Playtonic Games revealed its new title to the world. The 2.5D game is called Yooka-Laylee And The Impossible Lair and is a follow-up to the original 2017 3D platformer. Is it a direct sequel, though? Apparently not. An FAQ on Playtonic's
Saturday24th Nov 2018
News More Than One Million People Have Now Played Yooka-Laylee
A milestone for the unlikely duo
Yooka-Laylee originally began life as a Kickstarter project and went on to become the fastest video game project to reach the one million dollar mark on the crowd-funding platform. This followed with its eventual release on the Nintendo Switch and multiple other systems in 2017 According to a tweet by the official...
Wednesday14th Nov 2018
News Brains Behind Yooka-Laylee Demaster Wanted To Recreate "The Good Old Days"
Bringing back the past
For a while now, Playtonic has been busy working on a free N64-inspired visual update for Yooka-Laylee. In a recent Q and A on Playtonic's website, Technical Director Jens Restermeier - the brains behind the operation - spoke about ideas and challenges encountered along the way: When we decided we were going to implement...
Wednesday17th Oct 2018
News The Next Yooka-Laylee Adventure Will Be A Crowd-Funded Graphic Novel
Kickstarter runs until 16th November
Yooka-Laylee started out life on Kickstarter and went on to become the fastest video game project to hit $1 million on the crowd-funding platform. Following their first outing on the Switch and multiple other systems, the bat and chameleon are now ready for their next adventure. The only catch is it'll take on...
Wednesday5th Sep 2018
News Limited Run Games' Yooka-Laylee Collector's Edition Available To Pre-Order On 7th September
Retro-inspired
If you want to relive the days of the Nintendo 64, Limited Run Games' retro-inspired Yooka-Laylee Collector's Edition might just be for you. Available to pre-order this Friday on 7th September, there'll be a total of 3,000 up for grabs. Each one contains Yooka-Laylee on Switch (the case & game), a retro-style Collector's...
Tuesday28th Aug 2018
Exclusive Here's What King K. Rool's Creator Thinks Of His Appearance In Smash Bros. Ultimate
"I couldn’t have done a better job myself!"
Nintendo stunned everyone when it revealed that Donkey Kong Country villain King K. Rool would be part of the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster, but it might come as a surprise to learn that the man who created this iconic baddie was just as shocked as the rest of the world. Former Rare designer Steve...
Saturday21st Jul 2018
News Yooka-Laylee Joins The Battle In Brawlout On Nintendo Switch
A new challenger has appeared!
If you didn’t pay much attention to Brawlout when it was originally released on the Switch eShop at the end of last year, perhaps now you will. Playtonic’s Yooka-Laylee has just been revealed as the latest guest fighter for the game. Based on the trailer below, it looks like the deadly duo will have all of...
Wednesday11th Jul 2018
News Here's Your First Look At Yooka-Laylee's Demastered Nintendo 64 Mode
From the age of 64 bits
Yooka-Laylee has already been out for a while, but that doesn't mean developer Playtonic Games has completely moved on from the chameleon and bat duo - in fact, the British studio is hard at work on the previously teased '64-bit tonic' mode that demasters the whole game so it looks like it's running on Nintendo 64...
Friday20th Apr 2018
News Limited Run Games Is Totally Down For A Physical Edition Of Yooka-Laylee
Come on, we all want this
Limited Run Games is helping bring some of Nintendo Switch's most beloved indie titles into the realm of boxed editions - check out its limited edition versions of Flinthook and Mercenary Kings Reloaded - but what about one of Switch's best platformers? What about Yooka-Laylee
Monday16th Apr 2018
News Looks Like Playtonic Is Ready To Reveal Its Next Game
Plus "extra content" for Yooka-Laylee
UK studio Playtonic has broken its silence to celebrate the first birthday of Yooka-Laylee, as well as hint that it's about to lift the lid on its next project. In a recent blog post, Playtonic said: Yes, hands up, we’ve been a bit quiet for a while. But we promise it’s because we’ve been far too busy...
Thursday14th Dec 2017
News Digital Foundry Heaps Praise On Yooka-Laylee Switch Port
A "superb" conversion
Yooka-Laylee finally arrives on Switch today, and as you'll know if you've already consulted our review, it was worth the wait. Playtonic has personally handled conversion duties this time around (Team17 ported the PS4 and Xbox One editions earlier in the year) and the developer has taken an inordinate amount of care in...
Friday8th Dec 2017
News This Playtonic Art Could Be The Closest We'll Get To Seeing Banjo-Kazooie And Switch Together
Former Rare artists celebrate their Nintendo past
To celebrate the long-awaited release of Yooka-Laylee on Switch, Playtonic's artists have been paying tribute to their past connection with Nintendo. As you know, Playtonic's core team is made up of former Rare staffers who worked on some of the company's most famous NES, SNES and N64 era titles...
Wednesday6th Dec 2017
News Yooka-Laylee's Nintendo Switch eShop Price Is Revealed
Same as the Steam version, but more expensive than PS4
Yooka-Laylee will cost £34.99 (likely converting to $39.99USD / €39.99) when it launches on the eShop next week. That's in-line with the Steam and Xbox One versions of the game, but is above what physical copies are changing hands for in stores and online. The price of the digital...
Friday6th Oct 2017
News TriForce Announces The Yooka-Laylee Collector-Boxie
10-inch statue of your favourite buddy duo
TriForce - a creator of high-end, officially licensed scale replicas of famous video game characters - has revealed its next venture, and it's likely to be of interest to fans of Playtonic's Yooka-Laylee, which is due out on Switch some time in the near future. The company is producing a 10-inch...
Friday8th Sep 2017
News Fashionable Buddy Duos Can Now Purchase These Fetching Yooka-Laylee T-Shirts
Start grabbing those Pagies!
While we still wait for the fine folks at Team17 and Playtonic Games to lovingly prepare the ultimate Switch edition of Yooka-Laylee for us, we can now at least look the part. Insert Coin Clothing has put together some charming t-shirts designs based around the game, which will ensure that you remain at the height...
Friday11th Aug 2017
News Playtonic Gives Update On Yooka-Laylee For Switch
Studio needs to be 100% confident before giving a release date
With the prospect of taking it anywhere, some have held off on purchasing Yooka-Laylee as they wait for it to be released on the Switch. Developer Playtonic Games has now given a little insight into how far along it is, saying that the "final issues" are being worked out. This news comes...
Thursday8th Jun 2017
News Playtonic Outlines Yooka-Laylee Improvements and Switch Version Progress
On a roll
Yooka-Laylee is now settled into a variety of platforms, but the release hasn't been without its critics. Playtonic has been keen to address complaints and work towards improvements, however, and has been developing a bumper update to resolve some issues. In the latest blog post from the studio it's confirmed that the major update is...
Tuesday9th May 2017
News Playtonic Writer Reflects on Yooka-Laylee’s Performance
"We delivered what we promised to our fans and backers."
Yooka-Laylee was admittedly a bit of a disappointment when it launched last month; given the pedigree of the developers working on the project, many were expecting a home run, but instead were met with something much more middling. The game is still due out on the Switch—in an improved...
Wednesday3rd May 2017
News Yooka-Laylee Could Be Much Improved By The Time The Switch Version Arrives
Playtonic working "with speed" towards Switch port
It's fair to say that Yooka-Laylee didn't exactly live up to the monumental expectations placed upon it by critics and fans alike, garnering mixed reviews last month when it landed on non-Nintendo platforms. Our sister site Push Square awarded the PS4 version 6 out of a possible 10, concluding that...
Tuesday4th Apr 2017
Round Up Yooka-Laylee's Scores Are In, And Critics Appear Divided
A return to form or a step backwards?
Yooka-Laylee isn't out on the Nintendo Switch yet, but it launches on other platforms very soon - so soon, in fact, that reviews have just gone live. As one of Kickstarter's most successful video game campaigns there was a lot of expectation surrounding this title, the debut of Playtonic Games - a studio made...
Saturday1st Apr 2017
News The Yooka-Laylee Rap Tries to be the Best and Worst Thing All at Once
The spirit of the DK rap lives on
The DK Rap is iconic, well known for being pretty awful while also being loved by plenty of retro gamers. It was typical Rare, and so the freshly revealed Yooka-Laylee rap is perhaps 'typical Playtonic'. It's no secret that many of the leading developers in the Playtonic team have lucrative histories at Rare, and...
Tuesday28th Mar 2017
Random A Fan Has Created a 2D Yooka-Laylee For SNES
Call yourself a fan?
It never ceases to amaze how far fans will go to show their love for a video game, even one that has yet to be released. Yooka-Laylee is due for launch in 2 weeks time on various platforms - thought not quite Switch yet - and to celebrate one super fan has managed to replicate the upcoming game for the Super Nintendo. Twitter...
News Playtonic on the Development Progress of Yooka-Laylee on Switch
"We're working directly with Nintendo"
It's rather hard to believe, but Yooka-Laylee is only a couple weeks away from its grand debut. The Kickstarter project aims to bring the dream of the collect-a-thon platformer back to the forefront, and based on all that's been revealed so far, it seems that Playtonic has done an excellent job of creating a...
Friday24th Mar 2017
News Playtonic Removes JonTron's Voice from Yooka-Laylee
Due to controversial comments
In just a few weeks, Yooka-Laylee will finally release on all platforms with the exception of the Switch port, which still hasn't received a date. The game was a Kickstarter success—one fueled by countless fans—and popular YouTuber JonTron was prominent among them. Back in 2015, Playtonic invited JonTron to voice a...
Monday30th Jan 2017
News Yooka-Laylee Formally Confirmed for Switch Along With Wii U Backer Options
"We continue to work closely with Nintendo"
There was understandable disappointment late last year when it was confirmed that Yooka-Laylee is no longer coming to the Wii U. Playtonic Games did give a strong indication that it would bring the title to Nintendo Switch, though the wording wasn't quite ironclad. It now seems to be a firm proposition,...
Wednesday4th Jan 2017
News Playtonic Games Adds Two More Former Rare Devs to its Ranks
"Super Scheduler and Handheld Hancho"
Playtonic Games - which is currently working on finalising Yooka-Laylee for launch - has published a blog post announcing that two former Rare designers have joined the ranks at the studio. Throughout the development of Yooka-Laylee the studio has been picking up various former Rare employees, including coders...
