Rare Co-Founder Tim Stamper Prepares to Open Decades of Development Archives on YouTube

Rare and Ultimate Play the Game co-founder Tim Stamper launches YouTube channel In Tim's World to reveal nearly 50 years of unseen video game development archives.

One of British videogame development's most famously private figures is preparing to reveal material from a career spanning almost half a century. Tim Stamper, co-founder of Ultimate Play the Game and Rare, has announced plans to share documents, development artefacts and other historical material through a new YouTube channel called In Tim's World. The latest update appeared on November 4 and received further confirmation on November 5, when specialist media reported that Stamper was encouraging enthusiasts to subscribe ahead of the first instalment. The announcement follows several mysterious social-media messages in late October suggesting that he was preparing to open his personal archives. Stamper says he has preserved documents and objects from his development career since 1979, creating the possibility of an unusually valuable collection of material covering multiple generations of videogame history. Alongside his brother Chris, Stamper helped establish Ultimate Play the Game, responsible for influential eight-bit titles including Jetpac, Atic Atac and Sabre Wulf. The brothers subsequently built Rare into one of the most important developers of the Nintendo era, producing games including Donkey Kong Country, Killer Instinct, GoldenEye 007, Banjo-Kazooie and Perfect Dark. The new channel includes a poll asking fans which subjects they would most like to see explored, with references to Conker, Ultimate, Project Dream and Zelda. However, these references should not be interpreted as confirmation that specific unreleased games or playable prototypes will be distributed. No complete archive catalogue or publication schedule has been announced. The historical significance could nevertheless be considerable. Original design documents and development materials can reveal how influential games evolved before release, including ideas abandoned because of technical limitations or changing commercial priorities. Rare enthusiasts have spent years speculating about hidden prototypes and unfinished projects. Tim Stamper may finally provide some answers, although his promise that the first episode will be a massive disappointment suggests his famously mischievous sense of humour remains fully operational.