Kinect Sports Rivals was a real prime example of being the wrong game at the wrong time. It wasn't there for launch, so it completely missed that boat. And the audience it was targeting mostly seem to have either a) left consoles altogether or b) stuck with the consoles they already owned. Casuals aren't going to pay $599 to play motion control games anymore.
I'm really not sure what Microsoft were thinking with it. It's good that Rare had finally found a focus after years of lurching from one project to another without any real direction; but I feel like a little more thought should've gone into either the release date; or indeed whether it was a smart project to invest in at all. Because 150 people is an absurd amount to put on a game like that.
Aside from that, if Rare were to return to the character-centric platformers that made them their name, then I kinda feel like that would just lead to another round of layoffs tbh. The market for these games outside of Nintendo's consoles just isn't there anymore. Sony try, and there's a small niche that still buys Ratchet/Sly, but aside from that it has really shrunk. Even though I imagine there would be a decent number of nostalgia-buys from people who grew up with them, such a market would be pretty small.
So they're kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place. I guess they could massively downsize to start making games to cater to their small but dedicated fanbase. Or they could beef up and try to break into becoming an AAA team. But from where they are right now, things don't look too peachy. At least MS have the money to keep them chugging along for a while if they so wish.
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