Rare Limited 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. In 2002, Microsoft acquired Rare, which retained the original brand, logo, and most intellectual properties. Rare has since focused on developing games exclusively for Microsoft's video game consoles, including Grabbed by the Ghoulies, Kameo: Elements of Power, Perfect Dark Zero, and Viva Piñata. In 2007, the Stampers left Rare to pursue other opportunities and, in 2010, the company's focus shifted to the Xbox Live Avatar and Kinect, releasing three Kinect Sports games. In 2015, Rare developed Rare Replay, an Xbox One-exclusive compilation containing 30 of its games to celebrate its 30th anniversary. Rare's most recent game, Sea of Thieves, was released in 2018. Fans and employees have been critical of Microsoft's buyout of Rare, citing a significant drop in game quality and the loss of original talent. Several key employees left Rare to form their own companies, such as Free Radical Design (later Crytek UK), best known for producing the TimeSplitters series, and Playtonic Games, best known for producing Yooka-Laylee. Rare is widely acknowledged by the gaming industry and has received numerous accolades from critics and journalists, though often described as secretive and seclusive.