‘Crash Bandicoot 4’ developer breakaways from Activision Blizzard

Toys For Bob, the developer of Crash Bandicoot 4 and the remastered Spyro collection, has confirmed it’s going independent.

Toys For Bob was founded in 1989 before being acquired by Activision in 2005, where they worked on Skylanders. As well as heading up a number of sequels, Toys For Bob also developed Crash Bandicoot 4 and was behind 2018’s Spyro Reignited Trilogy.

As part of the recent wave of layoffs at Activision Blizzard, Toys For Bob lost 89 members of staff and saw the closure of their Californian offices.

In a new blog post though, Toys For Bob has confirmed it has broken away from Activision.  “We’re thrilled to announce that Toys for Bob is spinning off as an independent game development studio,” started the announcement.

Some changes underway… https://t.co/JACzLFiAho pic.twitter.com/95cZPfVxJ2

— Toys For Bob (@ToysForBob) February 29, 2024

“Over the years, we’ve inspired love, joy, and laughter for the inner child in all gamers. 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.”

“Our team is excited to develop new stories, new characters, and new gameplay experiences.”

However, the post also confirmed that the studio is exploring a “partnership” with Microsoft. “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,” the blog continued.

Toys For Bob is still in the “early days of developing” their next game and “a ways away from making any announcements”.

Well, it’s official. Just booted up the game and checked. Crash Team Rumble is done. Last update comes March 4th 2024. Servers staying open indefinitely, battle pass going free, microtransactions getting turned off. No season 4. pic.twitter.com/9NyCjLc1Cg

— Liam (@liamrobertson.bsky) (@Doctor_Cupcakes) February 29, 2024

As part of the breakaway, online party game Crash Team Rumble will stop being updated, nine months after it was launched.

“The core game will still be live and players will have access to a free 500-tier battle pass that includes 104 new items,” said an in-game update. “This will include all of the Battlepass content from Seasons 1 through 3, plus all the available event rewards.”

In other news, Nacon’s open-world Terminator game now has a title and an Early Access launch date, with Terminator: Survivors due for release in October.