Gregg Mayles (born 29 April 1971) is a British video game designer who previously worked for the video game company Rare as creative director. Between 1989 and 2025, Mayles was one of the longest-serving members of the studio Rare, having designed games for the company since Battletoads (1991), in addition to Donkey Kong Country (1994) and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995). Mayles also created the Banjo-Kazooie franchise. After Rare was acquired by Microsoft in 2002, Mayles designed Grabbed by the Ghoulies (2003) and Viva Piñata (2006), in addition to directing Sea of Thieves (2018).
Career
Mayles began his career as a designer of the Battletoads series and the Donkey Kong Country series, and was one of the creators of the characters Diddy Kong and King K. Rool. After his work on DKC, he came up with an idea about an action-adventure game influenced by his recent work on the series. The project was greenlit for release first on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and then on the Nintendo 64. Codenamed Project Dream, the game was to be about a boy who went on a magical adventure to a pirate island. The concept was scrapped, and the hero was changed to a bear based on one from Diddy Kong Racing with a backpack, with the latter inspired by Mayles' trip to Japan. This became the critically acclaimed Banjo-Kazooie series.
After the success of Banjo-Kazooie, Mayles did additional design on Donkey Kong 64, which was based on the concept of Mayles's project. Then, Mayles directed the long-awaited sequel, Banjo-Tooie, which was even more acclaimed than its predecessor. After Banjo-Tooie, Mayles did design on Conker's Bad Fur Day and Star Fox Adventures. Mayles directed the design of the 2003 game Grabbed by the Ghoulies, which was reviewed poorly by the press. The game's protagonist, Cooper, resembles Mayles himself. Then he worked on some other projects before playing a key role in creating the game Viva Piñata. It first came to life as an idea from Tim Stamper, and then it resulted in a full game influenced by the Animal Crossing and Story of Seasons series. It was released in 2006 and was well received. Mayles also took part in designing its sequel, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise.
In 2006, Mayles decided to go back to his roots, and started a new Banjo-Kazooie project with a new feature: car building. It was announced at X06, and was titled Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. The game was released in 2008. After Nuts & Bolts, Mayles did work on the Xbox 360 version of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing and on Kinect Sports. Mayles also served as the creative director for 2018's Sea of Thieves; one of the in-game songs is named in his honour.
In 2007, Tim and Chris Stamper left Rare to "pursue other opportunities", and Mark Betteridge, along with Mayles, replaced them as studio director and creative director, respectively.Rare Co-Founders Part Ways. January 2, 2007. Mayles also donates money for poor children. He started a "Very Purple Marathon" in April 2009. The marathon was supported by Rare itself, donating 2,110 euros. His younger brother is video game artist Steve Mayles, who also worked at Rare from 1992 to 2014.
In October 2025, after the reported cancellation of Everwild, Mayles has now resigned from Rare.
Works YearTitlePlatform(s)DirectorDesignerOtherNotes1990Solar JetmanNES Critical feedback1991Battletoads1994Battletoads ArcadeArcadeDonkey Kong CountrySNES1995Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest Also producer1996Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! Special thanks1998Banjo-KazooieN64 Also "chief of ideas" and project leader1999Donkey Kong 64Support2000Banjo-Tooie Credited as part of "The Banjo-Tooie Team"2001Conker's Bad Fur Day2002Star Fox AdventuresGameCubeSpecial thanks: Rare2003Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's RevengeGBASpecial thanksGrabbed by the GhouliesXbox2004Sabre WulfGBAOriginal concept2005It's Mr. Pants!Perfect Dark ZeroXbox 360Rare managementKameo2006Viva Piñata2007Jetpac RefuelledRare management2008Viva Piñata: Trouble in ParadiseViva Piñata: Pocket ParadiseNintendo DSBanjo-Kazooie: Nuts & BoltsXbox 360 Credited for "Daft Ideas and Vehicle Gluing"2010Kinect SportsSonic & SEGA All-Stars RacingSpecial thanks2012Fable: The Journey2014Kinect Sports RivalsXbox One2018Sea of ThievesXbox One, Windows, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5Credited as Grogg Mayles2019Super Smash Bros. UltimateNintendo SwitchOriginal Game Supervisors: Rare Ltd. (Banjo-Kazooie Fighters Pass DLC)2020BattletoadsWindows, Xbox OneSpecial thanks
Canceled games
Everwild (Windows, Xbox Series X/S) - Director, designer
References
External links
Gregg Mayles on MobyGames
Gregg Mayles on Giant Bomb A Very Purple Marathon's site Mayles's article at Rare Witch Project Wiki
Interviews B-K: Nuts and Bolts: Q&A from Gregg Mayles. Mayles comments on Ensemble Studio's closure and Peter Moore's accusation on Rare as outdated company.