Toys for Bob, the developer of Crash Bandicoot and Spyro has reached an agreement with Microsoft for their next game, according to reports. This is coming less than a month after the studio announced that it was leaving Activision Blizzard to become an independent studio.
However, the decision will likely not surprise anyone who read the announcement by the studio heads Paul Yan and Avery Lodato last month. The studio heads in the announcement said they were “exploring a possible partnership”.
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According to Jez Corden of Windows Central, Toys for Bob has reached an agreement with Microsoft for their first game. Corden referenced a recent town hall meeting where Matt Booty, who currently leads Xbox’s game content division reportedly mentioned the matter.
Booty stopped short of describing the details of the agreement and what the game would be. However, he kind of hinted the upcoming game will be similar to the kind of games that Toys for Bob has been known for.
Toys for Bob told fans to “keep their horns on”, which Corden thinks has something to do with Spyro. According to Corden, although Spyro is owned by Microsoft (thanks to the acquisition of Activision Blizzard), there is no developer to take over the project following Toys for Bob’s departure from Activision.
So, there is still a slim chance that Toys for Bob’s first game as an independent studio could be something related to Spyro or Crash Bandicoot. However, it is also possible that it may be something else.
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Regardless of whatever it is that Toys for Bob is cooking with Microsoft, the anticipation will surely be high. Many will want to see if the studio will retain its age-long culture and style or transition to something else. The partnership with Microsoft also means the game may show up on Xbox Game Pass on launch day.
Why Toys for Bob parted ways with Activision
By acquiring Activision Blizzard, Microsoft also took ownership of several studios and IPs. Toys for Bob was instrumental in the development of Activision’s Skylander franchise. It allowed players to purchase figurines with NFC chips and place the characters in the game using a USB peripheral “portal”.
However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Activision started leaning more on Toys for Bob as a support for the creation of Call of Duty. Eventually, they worked as a support studio for various entries in the series—which was not in line with the type of games they love to make.
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Think of Spyro and Crash Bandicoot and you will understand the type of games that Toys for Bob loves to make. Working on Call of Duty franchise veered them off that path.
Eventually, the only way they could have control over the type of games they made was by going independent—a decision they finally took last month.
Founded in 1989 Toys for Bob developed games like Unholy War, Pandemoniom, and Star Control before being acquired by Activision in 2005. To date, the California-based studio is best known for developing Spyro and Crash Bandicoot—two games that continue to garner massive followership to date.
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Their most recent game before the split with Activision was Crash Team Rumble, an online multiplayer with a touch of strategy and platforming. The game was released to a mixed reception. On Metacritic, it garnered an average of 71 on Xbox Series X and 67 on PS5.
The game was criticized for being repetitive and having a matching system that often paired teams of unequal levels. Are you excited to see Toys for Bob’s first game as an independent studio? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.
