Starring the charismatic new heroes Yooka and Laylee, Yooka-Laylee uses an arsenal of special moves like Yooka’s tongue grapple and Laylee’s sonar blast, letting players explore – and expand – gorgeous 3D worlds filled with collectibles and secrets to discover. During their adventures Yooka and Laylee will complete challenges to unlock and collect Pagies. These golden collectibles are the main currency in the game, used not only to unlock new worlds but expand them too.

The project will feature worlds crafted by the artists behind the genre’s most beloved classics, plus a dream soundtrack created in collaboration with legendary composers David Wise (Donkey Kong Country series), Steve Burke (Kameo: Elements of Power) and Grant Kirkhope (Banjo-Kazooie series).

Yooka-Laylee is now available to pre-order (Xbox Store, PSN, Steam and GOG) at £34.99 / $39.99 / €39.99 for non-Kickstarter backers in both digital and physical formats from all participating stores worldwide. Kickstarter backers will soon have the option to upgrade to a physical version if they choose. The pre-order offer includes an instant unlock to the Yooka-Laylee Toybox  which gives a taste of the platforming mechanics set to appear in the full game in a self-contained, spoiler free sandbox experience.

Playtonic has also provided an update on the Wii U version of Yooka-Laylee, confirming that development is looking to transfer to the upcoming Nintendo Switch platform.

“We’re sad to announce that despite our best efforts and exploring every possible avenue, we have encountered unforseen technical issues that unfortunately mean it will be impossible for us to release Yooka-Laylee on Wii U as initially planned.” Gavin Price, Studio Director, Playtonic Games confirmed.

“We can however confirm today that we are working very closely with Nintendo to look to bring Yooka-Laylee to the upcoming Nintendo Switch. We’re thrilled to be able to explore the opportunity and more details will be shared in early 2017. Of course, any backers who pledged for the Wii U version will be able to move their pledge to any of the versions launching on April 11th or upgrade to the Nintendo Switch version when we announce further details in 2017. Thanks again for your incredible support.”

Playtonic and Team17 also revealed a brand-new world for the tail-twirling buddy-duo to explore: Capital Cashino. As with all the five worlds in Yooka-Laylee, this visually striking new world will be fully expandable, providing players with a whole new area to explore and challenges to complete, with an exciting gameplay twist; players must now compete to win casino tokens, and exchange them with the banker for pivotal Pagies!

Yooka-Laylee will launch on April 11th 2017 for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 platforms.

Key Features:

• Heroes Built for Fun: Our new buddy-duo were dreamed up specifically for entertaining platforming gameplay and exceptional colour coordination. We think we've captured the spirit of our past heroes while introducing our most inventive moves yet.
• An Arsenal of Abilities: Sonar blasting, tongue whipping, sky soaring… a move roster built for platforming fun – and unlocked with added freedom. Additionally, there may or may not be a move involving a giant fart bubble.
• A Dream Soundtrack: David Wise (Donkey Kong Country) and Grant Kirkhope (Banjo-Kazooie) combine in what's sure to be a melodic masterpiece! Seriously, clean out your ears - they're in for a treat.
• Collect-em-up 2.0: A roster of shiny collectibles with gameplay progression at their core (as well as other, more valuable materials). Every collectible type in our new game will expand gameplay in a meaningful way. Yes, we employ the man responsible for DK64's myriad of trinkets, but we've had a stern word. Our main collectible, Pagies, are used to unlock and expand new worlds in Yooka-Laylee.
• Expandable Worlds: Experience more of the playgrounds you love by spending collectibles to expand your favourites into bigger, more challenging worlds.
• A Cast to Last: A huge cast of memorable characters to meet (or beat) brought to life by the art and audio teams behind Banjo-Kazooie and destined to endure in future games as part of Playtonic Universe. Expect all manner of grunts, squeaks and squawks.
• Introducing Play Tonics: Discover these unique gameplay modifiers and use them to customise gameplay to suit your style. Will you run faster, hit harder or fly further? Also, are they named after our studio or vice versa? We'll never know.
• Arcade machines: Each world hides at least one secret arcade game encasing old-school gaming goodness. Complete its retro-tastic challenge to claim your Pagie!

Playtonic was formed in 2014 by veterans of Rare Ltd, including Steve Mayles, creator of the beloved Banjo and Kazooie characters, and Chris Sutherland, the software engineer responsible for more than two decades of iconic games. Between them, the seven-person Playtonic team has over 100 years of combined experience working on blockbuster franchises.