The Banjo-Kazooie series has been dormant for over 16 years at this point, and composer Grant Kirkhope has “zero hope” that’s ever going to change, even though he’d be up for reprising his role if it did.
Over on Twitter this week, Kirkhope, who composed the music for the first game, Banjo-Tooie, and Nuts and Bolts, was asked if he’d be willing to create the soundtrack for a new Banjo game if it ever happened, to which the answer is a short but sweet, “Of course.” Does that mean anything is actually happening though? According to the composer, seemingly not.
Writing again a few hours later, he says: “I’ve said it before… but… I have zero hope for another Banjo game, plus all you die-hard fans would instantly hate it and slag it off no matter how good it was, it never works.”
I’ve said it before … but .. I have zero hope for another Banjo game, plus all you die hard fans would instantly hate it and slag it off no matter how good it was , it never works.January 23, 2025
He clarifies that he doesn’t intend this statement to “come across as mean,” noting that “the Banjo fanverse is a wonderful thing, the reaction when Banjo got into Smash Bros. is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.” However, his stance on the potential of a new game seemingly remains firm. Last year, after teasing something and quickly clarifying that it wasn’t “Banjo-related,” he told one fan who said they “don’t think I should expect any Banjo anymore” that they were “correct.”
Despite Kirkhope’s pessimism, Banjo hasn’t been totally forgotten about in these last 16 years. As the composer mentions, Banjo and Kazooie were added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as DLC in 2019, and in 2023, when asked about games that could eventually be revived, Xbox boss Phil Spencer even called out Rare’s platformer by name. “You’ve seen from our history that we haven’t touched every franchise that people would love us to touch – Banjo fans, I hear you,” he told Windows Central at the time. “But it is true that, when we find the right team, and the right opportunity, I love going back to revisit stories and characters that we’ve seen previously.”
Could the iconic series ever make a proper return, then? If Spencer’s old comment is anything to go by, it doesn’t seem totally off the table, but the series’ composer clearly doesn’t want anyone getting their hopes up.
Shigeru Miyamoto thought Banjo-Kazooie was so great it helped convince him to delay Zelda: Ocarina of Time – “It’s so amazing that we don’t want to be outdone.”
