Toys for Bob is one of the studios most affected by the layoffs ordered by Microsoft in January: the studio, inherited thanks to the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, initially seemed to have to close but apparently things are not like that.
Insider CanadianGuyEh reiterates that the Toys of Bob offices have been closed and the team is working remotely, however the company is still operational. The company was downsized and it now has around 50 employees compared to 86 at the end of Decemberthe offices were closed because rent and daily expenses were deemed too high for such a small team.
Management then proposed that Microsoft move all work remotely to save on management costs, a decision that the Redmond company accepted but did not impose on the studio. Consequently, Toys for Bob is still an operational reality of Microsoft Gaming, working on support for Call of Duty and on “new projects” not yet announced.
One of these could be Spyro The Dragon 4, rumored in recent months and which many were close to an official announcement. This hasn’t happened (yet?) and who knows, maybe there’s hope for it see the little purple dragon again during 2024.