Rare is a British video game developer and a studio of Xbox Game Studios based in Twycross, England. Rare is known for its platformers, which include the Donkey Kong, Banjo-Kazooie, and Conker series, although the studio does not adhere to specific genres and has developed first-person shooter, action-adventure, fighting, and racing games.
The company was established in 1985 by brothers Tim and Chris Stamper, who also founded Ultimate Play the Game. During its early years, Rare was backed by an unlimited budget from Nintendo, primarily concentrated on Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) games. During this time the studio created successful games such as Wizards & Warriors, R.C. Pro-Am, and Battletoads. Rare became a prominent second-party developer for Nintendo, which came to own a large minority stake of the company. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Rare received international recognition and critical acclaim for games such as the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, Killer Instinct, GoldenEye 007, Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark, and Conker’s Bad Fur Day.