We’re worried about the future of Crash Bandicoot
Sigh, it could all come 'crashing' down, as the future of everyone's favourite spinning marsupial looks like it could be in doubt. While Crash Bandicoot has been a staple of the gaming scene since 1996, he's come a long way from his PlayStation days under the stewardship of Naughty Dog.
Toys for Bob has held the keys to the Crash-Verse since 2020, and while it gifted us the lauded Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, there was less success with 2023's Crash Team Rumble. Now, the latter is being sunsetted and the studio is trying to strike out on its own.
Crash Team Crumble
Toys for Bob has confirmed that it's winding down Crash Team Rumble, less than a year after the party game launched. When players now boot up the game, they're greeted with a message warning that the final content update will be coming on March 4.
Microtransactions will be turned off, but for those still wanting to play, Crash Team Rumble will remain online (for now). There's something of a small win, as a 50-tier Battle Pass collating the previous three seasons will be introduced alongside 104 new items.
Still, this is hardly the news Toys for Bob was hoping for. It comes after the Crash and Spyro developer was caught in the crossfire of February's Microsoft layoffs, which saw the gaming giant axe 1,900 jobs from across the board.
Let 'er Ripper Roo
Click to enlargeToys for Bob has been chopped and changed by Activision, being sucked in by the Call of Duty vortex and resigned to being a Warzone support studio. More recently, it was one of the many studios that assisted on the maligned Modern Warfare 3. Seemingly having had enough, Toys for Bob is striking out on its own.
There were hopes that the Activision Blizzard acquisition could bolster our dreams of Crash 5, but now, Windows Central reports that Toys for Bob is trying to break free from its overlords. Chief Creative Officer Paul Yan and Studio Head Avery Lodato announced, "We're going indie."
In the Toys for Bob blog post, the pair write, "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."
Despite the split, the team says it's "exploring a possible partnership between our new studio and Microsoft," once again sparking hopes of Crash's next mainline game. Interestingly, the closing line of, "Keep your horns on and your eyes open," fuels the fire that Spyro is also coming back.
While it might seem like a bold move for Toys for Bob to cut the Activision umbilical chord, the gamble is worth it when compared to just being a Warzone support studio of being shuttered altogether. The industry is in a precarious place right now, but with a wing and a prayer, Crash will soon be spinning back into our lives.
