Crash Bandicoot 5 could happen amid Xbox deal
Much like Neo Cortex himself, you can't keep the Crash Bandicoot series down. The spinning marsupial has been part of our lives since 1996, and while he's slowed down in recent years, there are still plenty of us craving the sweet Wumpa fruits of Crash Bandicoot 5.
Despite an era of prosperity when it debuted on the PlayStation, the Crash franchise largely fell off the boil following Crash Team Racing. Although 2001's Wrath of Cortex was the official fourth mainline game, Toys for Bob retconned that with Crash 4: It's About Time in 2020. So, what comes next?
Toys for Bob teases Crash 5
Click to enlargeIf you were looking closely in It's About Time, there was a cryptic tease of Crash 5. Unfortunately, we're no closer to unravelling what it means. With the devs moving onto Crash Team Rumble and also being pulled to help on Call of Duty: Warzone, some of us had given up on seeing Crash 5.
Even if Toys for Bob has been busy on Rumble, Creative Director Dan Neil told VGC he has "support from above".
"It's not only about what we're passionate about, it's that Activision is supportive and they continue to want to invest in new titles for this franchise. They also have a belief that we can do exciting new things."
Reiterating how working on Call of Duty has helped Toys for Bob, Neil added, "We've got folks internally who can turn their hands to Call of Duty and create excellent Call of Duty content. We’ve drawn a lot of knowledge and learning from working with the Call of Duty team that we've brought back into our own execution on Crash Team Rumble."
Could the Activision Blizzard deal help Crash Bandicoot?
Click to enlargeWhile legacy franchises like Crash and Spyro have been left to ferment, there are high hopes that the potential Activision Blizzard acquisition could bring them back from the brink. Last year, Bobby Kotick said he hoped Microsoft's backing could "grow existing franchises." That's if the deal ever goes through.
Crash Team Rumble is likely a testing ground to see how well things can do, especially after It's About Time was accused of underperforming in the sales department. Thankfully, Crash has been in the news a lot recently, with Rumble heralding the introduction of the franchise's first non-binary character.
We never really forgot about Crash Bandicoot, but if Rumble can remind us why we loved that kooky cast of critters, here's hoping the Crash name could be coming back with a 'crash.' A multiplayer that isn't even free-to-play is hardly the Crash we were asking for, but if it gets more fans talking about him, we say go for it.
