In a sea of layoffs across the entire industry, a surprising development has happened. Former Activision/Blizzard studio Toys for Bob, is going independent. This follows major layoffs within Microsoft’s gaming division, with the developer heavily down-sizing in the process.
The blog post made by the studio has said the following:
We’re thrilled to announce that Toys for Bob is spinning off as an independent game development studio!
Over the years, we’ve inspired love, joy, and laughter for the inner child in all gamers. We pioneered new IP and hardware technologies in Skylanders. We raised the bar for best-in-class remasters in Spyro Reignited Trilogy. We’ve taken Crash Bandicoot to innovative, critically acclaimed new heights.
With the same enthusiasm and passion, we believe that now is the time to take the studio and our future games to the next level. This opportunity allows us to return to our roots of being a small and nimble studio.
Being a fan of the 3D Platformer, seeing one of the biggest champions of the genre standing on their own is a positive development. And for those concerned about the studio abandoning the Crash and Spyro franchises within ABK/Microsoft, they have said the following:
Our friends at Activision and Microsoft have been extremely supportive of our new direction and we’re confident that we will continue to work closely together as part of our future.
Toys for Bob Address the Future of Crash Team Rumble
So the possibility of them still making the rumored Banjo & Kazooie game or another Spyro game remains. This news is not all positive, with the studio’s latest Crash Team Rumble ending support. The game will, however, still have its three seasons of content accessible through a free 500-tier battle pass and the game’s servers will remain online.
The future of the Crash and Spyro franchises is uncertain, but that’s for Microsoft and Activision/Blizzard to answer.
