GoldenEye 007’s elusive HD port finally looks set for release, after Achievements were discovered on Xbox servers on Sunday.
As shared by internet sleuthWario64, Achievements for anXboxversion of the classicN64shooter have appeared onMicrosoft’s servers, suggesting that a release is imminent.
It was first spotted earlier this year thatRaredevelopers were seeminglyplaying an Xbox versionof the FPS, as their progress was being logged on tracker sites such asTrueAchivements.
Last year it wasconfirmedthatMicrosofthad to shelve an already completed remaster of the classic N64 game for theXbox 360back in 2007, following licensing issues and miscommunication between license holders and a young team who rushed ahead to create it.
Update - Officially announced13th Sep 2022 / 3:40 pm
Microsoft has officially confirmed GoldenEye 007 for both Nintendo Switch and Xbox Game Pass.
However, the game is not the previously leaked remake that VGC reviewed here, but a simplified remaster. The Xbox version runs at 60fps and in 4K, butlacks online multiplayer. Whereas the Switch version is a direct port of the N64 original, but does include online play.
“25 years after its original release, experience GoldenEye 007 faithfully recreated for Xbox consoles,” developer Rare said. “Includes achievements, 4K resolution and a smoother framerate – even in split-screen local multiplayer!”
A working build ofGoldenEye 007’s cancelled Xbox 360 remasterwas leaked onto file-sharing sites, allowing those with access to the files to play it via a modded console orPCemulator. At the time, VGCreviewed the leaked GoldenEye Xbox buildand called it “the greatest remaster you’ll likely never play”.
Speaking for the first time to VGC in aGoldenEye Xbox interviewlast year, the canned remaster’s co-directors said they didn’t think it would ever be officially released.
“It’s kind of bittersweet,” co-directorChris Tilstonsaid of seeing the GoldenEye remaster leak into the public domain. “It means people get to see the work that was done, but it also masks some of the cockups that went on behind the scenes.”
“Further
Co-directorMark Edmondsadded: “The thing that I find strangest is, why now? Why leak it after all this time? Someone must have had this for all those years. It just seems strange to me.
“When I first heard about it, it almost made me think, are Microsoft leaking it on purpose for some reason? (Laughs) I don’t think that would make sense, but it does make you wonder.”
