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).

Can you fathom that in just over two months Yooka-Laylee will be released? And as our proverbial tank treads take us thundering us towards d-day, our ranks grow ever larger…

Hot on the heels of recent arrivals Andy Wilson (producer) and Gary Richards (designer), please welcome Viva Pinata designer Justin Cook to the Playtonic team!

Here’s his RPG backstory:

Like all most initiates, Justin had to prove himself in the QA trenches before he could scrap alongside the battle-hardened level scribblers we call ‘designers’.

Cook worked in testing on games such as Perfect Dark, Banjo-Tooie and Conker’s Bad Fur Day before joining a tiny team in 2003 to prototype what eventually became Viva Piñata – and ending up as the series’ lead designer. His design credits also include It’s Mr. Pants, the Kinect Sports series and more.

Harassed for a few nice words over Skype, Justin eventually conceded: “I came to Playtonic because I like working ‘hands on’ with a game as part of a small team of experts. Joining Playtonic now, feels like a chance to ‘be-there’ at the start of something special.”

Welcome, JC. We’re sure we’ll all get on fine.

More good news! Almost two years since Playtonic announced itself to the world – and 21 months since our Kickstarter campaign – we’re absolutely delighted to announced that Yooka-Laylee has gone gold!

We couldn’t have reached this moment without the incredible support of our backers, fans, family and friends across the games industry. Thanks again for your unwavering enthusiasm for our studio. We hope you enjoy Yooka-Laylee when it releases on April 11!

Today we have published a very important update on how Yooka-Laylee console Kickstarter backers will soon be able to prepare their final platform choices, ahead of the game’s April 11 release.

Head over to Kickstarter for the full information breakdown.

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.