While most of the discussion surrounding the Xbox Games Showcase focused on games like Halo Infiniteand the Fable reboot, some gamers had been hoping to see the surprise return of Rare's beloved franchise, Banjo-Kazooie.
Rare reportedly renewed the trademark for Banjo-Kazooie on 23 July 2020, the day of the Xbox Games Showcase, giving fans hope that an announcement could've been coming.
READ MORE: Banjo-Kazooie on Switch NEEDS to happen
Ultimately, there was no Banjo-Kazooie news in the stream. But why??
Why was the Banjo-Kazooie trademark updated?
First spotted by Twitter user @Oakieland, Rare renewed their trademark for Banjo-Kazooie for 23 July 2020 with the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Patents and trademarks require a renewal every ten years, but as shown the USPTO website, Rare previously renewed the Banjo-Kazooie trademark in 2018.
You can check out the updated trademark here.
While companies renew or update their trademarks for a number of reasons not disclosed to the public or media, the timing of this renewal- on the day of Xbox's Games Showcase did seem to hint that we may see the return of Banjo-Kazooie outside of Super Smash Bros Ultimate.
The Games Showcase was a chance for Xbox's first-party studios, which includes Rare, to reveal their upcoming projects for the Xbox Series X and supporting platforms. And while Rare did have a presence at the event, they didn't bring Banjo or Kazooie with them.
READ MORE: Xbox Games Showcase announcements that did happen
What could Rare be working on?
If Rare does show off some Banjo-Kazooie related content soon, we think it's most likely to be either a Banjo-Kazooie Remastered collection, similar to the Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy, or a completely new entry to the series.
The long-anticipated Banjo-Kazooie 3 (which is fondly called Banjo-Kathreeie or Banjo-Threeie among fans) would certainly be a huge announcement if made exclusive for the Xbox Series X.
The sequel to Banjo-Tooie has been a long time coming, since Tooie launched way back in the year 2000. And the Nuts And Bolts game from 2008 did little to tide us over.
However, as Rare has already announced it is working on Everwild as well as continuing to update and support Sea of Thieves, it could be a while before we hear any concrete Banjo-Kazooie 3 news. But we'll be sure to let you know if/when it does arrive.
READ MORE: ‘The Netflix of Gaming’: Learn about Project xCloud