August 4th, 2025. Mark that date, because it was basically the day the gaming world stopped to look back at forty years of some of the weirdest, most ambitious, and honestly, most frustratingly brilliant games ever made. Microsoft and Rare officially kicked off the Microsoft Rare 40th anniversary celebrations then, and even now in 2026, the ripples are still being felt across the Xbox ecosystem.
Rare is a strange beast. One day they're making a game about a bear and a bird collecting puzzle pieces, and the next they’re pioneering the entire first-person shooter genre on consoles with GoldenEye 007. They’ve been through the high-flying Nintendo years and the somewhat rocky "Kinect era" under Microsoft. But turning forty is a massive deal in an industry that usually eats its own.
What Actually Happened During the Anniversary?
If you were expecting a massive new Banjo-Kazooie game, you probably walked away a bit salty. Microsoft didn't drop a triple-A revival. Instead, they leaned hard into what they called the "Ruby Anniversary."
Why ruby? It's the traditional 40th-anniversary gem.
The celebration was a mix of digital goodies and high-end physical collectibles. Honestly, the 8BitDo Ultimate 3-mode controller was the standout. It sports a classic blue and gold color scheme—a direct nod to the old-school Rareware logo that used to pop up on your N64 screen. It’s got a little "40 Rare" logo on the side and Sea of Thieves skull motifs on the thumbsticks. At $89.99, it wasn't cheap, but for collectors, it was the "must-have" item of the year.
The Evercade and iam8bit Collaborations
For the retro purists, the anniversary brought something tangible. Rare teamed up with Evercade to release a physical cartridge containing twelve vintage titles. This is huge for people who actually like owning their games instead of just renting them on a subscription.
The lineup included:
- Atic Atac
- Battletoads (and the Arcade version!)
- Jetpac
- Knight Lore
- R.C. Pro-Am
- Conker’s Pocket Tales
Then you had the music. Iam8bit released a massive 4xLP vinyl box set for $100. It covers 2.5 hours of music from basically every era of the studio. You get David Wise’s atmospheric Donkey Kong vibes (though specifically the Rare-owned IPs like Battletoads), Grant Kirkhope’s whimsical Banjo tracks, and Robin Beanland’s Sea of Thieves shanties. The records themselves are pressed in blue and gold "Rareware" colors.
Sea of Thieves Took Center Stage
You can't talk about Rare in 2026 without talking about Sea of Thieves. It is the studio's heart now. During the Microsoft Rare 40th anniversary, the game became a literal museum of the studio's history.
Microsoft gave away a "Rare Ruby Emote" to Game Pass Ultimate members. If you logged in during August 2025, you got a free Ruby Eyepatch. They also ran a "Heritage Sale" in the Pirate Emporium, slashing prices on ship sets inspired by Viva Piñata, Banjo-Kazooie, and Killer Instinct.
Season 17, which launched right around the anniversary, was titled "Smugglers’ Tide." It introduced a bunch of ruby-themed cosmetics, but more importantly, it signaled Rare’s commitment to the game for the next few years. They even announced a paid subscription for custom servers coming in early 2026, which has been a polarizing topic in the community, to say the least.
The Bittersweet Context of the Milestone
We have to be real here. The 40th anniversary wasn't all parties and pirate hats. It happened during a pretty rough patch for Xbox Game Studios. Just weeks before the big "40" hit, Microsoft announced significant layoffs and the cancellation of Everwild, Rare’s long-in-development nature adventure.
That stung.
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Seeing a studio celebrate 40 years while their next big project is being scrapped felt... weird. It led to a lot of "what's next?" chatter. With veteran designers like Gregg Mayles reportedly moving on after Everwild's end, the studio is in a transition phase. They are doubling down on Sea of Thieves because it works. It’s a bankable hit. But for fans who grew up on the experimental Rare of the 90s, the lack of a "new" project feels like a missing piece of the puzzle.
Was the Celebration Enough?
Some fans on Reddit and social media felt the 40th was a bit "merch-heavy." They wanted a Rare Replay 2 or a 4K remaster of Diddy Kong Racing. Instead, they got a hoodie and a vinyl set.
But look at the landscape. Microsoft is managing a dozen legacy studios now. They’ve got Bethesda turning 40 in 2026 and Blizzard hitting 35. The fact that Rare got a dedicated controller and a plaque in Ashby-de-la-Zouch (their original home) shows there’s still deep respect for that British DNA.
Actionable Insights for Rare Fans in 2026
If you're looking to participate in the tail end of the anniversary or just want to catch up, here is what you can actually do right now:
- Check the Sea of Thieves Emporium: While the "Heritage Sale" ended in 2025, many of the 40th-anniversary ruby items occasionally rotate back into the shop or are available via the Plunder Pass.
- Scour for the 8BitDo Controller: These were limited edition. If you find one at retail price, grab it. They are already becoming "eBay gold."
- Listen to the Vinyl on Streaming: If you didn't drop $100 on the 4xLP set, most of the remastered tracks are available on Spotify and Apple Music under the official "Rare" or "iam8bit" accounts.
- Play Rare Replay: It’s still the best value on Game Pass. It contains 30 games and remains the definitive way to see why this studio survived four decades.
- Watch for the Evercade Cartridge: If you’re a handheld gamer, the "Rare Collection 1" is one of the few ways to play these games legally on a modern device without a subscription.
Rare's story isn't over. It’s just different. They’ve shifted from being a "game factory" that pumped out five titles a year to a "world builder" that maintains one of the biggest live-service games on the planet. Whether you love the new direction or miss the old one, forty years in this business is a miracle.
Check your Xbox dynamic backgrounds—there's a special 40th-anniversary one still available that looks incredible on an OLED screen.