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Amid mass layoffs, studio closures, and normal business uncertainty, as we speak started with a handful of studios and firms reclaiming management of their very own destinies. We discovered this morning that Saber Interactive and Gearbox are reportedly breaking freed from Embracer Group. And now, it appears to be like like Crash Bandicoot developer Toys for Bob has sprung freed from Activision and Microsoft.
The studio introduced this information through a weblog put up as we speak, stating that Toys for Bob can be spinning off into indie improvement in an effort to return to its roots.
Through the years, we have impressed love, pleasure, and laughter for the inside baby in all avid gamers. We pioneered new IP and {hardware} applied sciences in Skylanders. We raised the bar for best-in-class remasters in Spyro Reignited Trilogy. We’ve taken Crash Bandicoot to revolutionary, critically acclaimed new heights.
With the identical enthusiasm and fervour, we consider that now could be the time to take the studio and our future video games to the following stage. This chance permits us to return to our roots of being a small and nimble studio.
Whereas going impartial would notably deprive Toys for Bob of its entry to the IPs its grow to be recognized for – Crash Bandicoot and Spyro particularly – it feels like there may be hope for these sequence in spite of everything. Toys for Bob goes on to state that it is presently exploring “a doable partnership between our new studio and Microsoft” and provides that each Microsoft and Activision are “extraordinarily supportive” of its new route. Whereas Toys for Bob’s first challenge as an indie studio is seemingly “within the early days” nonetheless, it is doable this might bear fruit as a revival of Crash, Spyro, or one other IP that Toys for Bob has grow to be recognized and beloved for.
It is not all sunshine and rainbows. 86 staff have been let go earlier this yr as a part of broader cuts at Xbox, and its bodily studio in Novato, California has shut down. It is doable Toys for Bob’s transfer to impartial improvement was a part of a broader transfer to avoid wasting the studio long-term, and did not come and not using a heavy price.
Toys for Bob was first based manner again in 1989 as a joint effort between Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford. The 2 oversaw the studio by way of its improvement of the Star Management sequence, and a handful of Disney licensed titles. Following a prolonged partnership with Crystal Dynamics, Toys for Bob was acquired by Activision in 2005 and went on to develop the Skylanders video games, the Spyro Reignited Trilogy, and Crash Bandicoot 4: It is About Time. Reiche and Ford left the studio in 2020, leaving Paul Yan and Avery Lodato in cost. Since then, Toys for Bob has largely labored as a help studio on a number of Name of Obligation video games.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Acquired a narrative tip? Ship it to rvalentine@ign.com.
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