Toys for Bob (Crash Bandicoot 4, Spyro Trilogy) is leaving Activision and Microsoft and becoming an independent studio: they return to their “indie” roots.
Toys for Boba studio with 30 years of history that was part of Activision since 2005, it's one of the smaller but beloved teams of the bunch, signing games like Skylanders, the 2018 Spyro remake, and the acclaimed Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time.
After the purchase of Microsoft by Activision Blizzard, it was one of the studios most affected by layoffs. Of the 1,900 employees destroyed, 35 eran de Toys for Bobwhich decimated the team, as they were left with only 50 people, who had to leave their offices and work remotely.
But this opens a new page in the history of Toys for Bob… that they will be independent. They will no longer belong to Activision Blizzard (and therefore, to Microsoft), as they explained in a statement.
Spyro Reignited Trilogy – PS4 Gameplay Demo E3 2018
“We're going indie! Toys for Bob celebrates”
The details of how Toys for Bob has “fled” (if they financed their own purchase, as Gearbox considered) are not known, but they do not cut ties with Microsoft.
Although they are independent, and have more freedom, they study a partnership with Microsoft.
“Our friends at Activision and Microsoft have been extremely supportive of our new direction and we are confident that we will continue to work closely together as part of our future.”
They say that there is still a long way to go to present their new game, which they are already working on, but it is understood that it will not be anything related to Crash or Spyro, but rather a new IP, now that “They have returned to their roots of being a small and agile studio“.
“Over the years, we've brought love, joy, and laughter to every gamer's inner child. We pioneered new IP and hardware technologies in Skylanders. We raised the bar for best-in-class remasters in Spyro Reignited Trilogy. “We have taken Crash Bandicoot to new, innovative and critically acclaimed heights.”
But it is good news, for two reasons. The main one was that there was a serious fear of the closure of the studio, a very small and vulnerable one. The other… that escape from Activisionwhere, since 2021, they worked as satellite studio for Call of Duty, depriving us of the talent of this studio. We can't wait to see what they come up with! Toys for Bob!