Summary
Do you honestly think I’m so desperate for a newCrash Bandicootgame that I’d write 750 words on a single picture of a mask that might not even be from Crash? Boy, do you know me well. Yesterday,Toys for Bobupdated its websitewith a picture of a tiki maskthat looks extremely similar to the art style we see in Crash Bandicoot. But what does this mean? Something? Nothing? If you ask me, it’s definitely one of those two.
First off, there’s the mask itself. Crash has always had tiki imagery, owing to the first game’s tropical island setting, and Crash 4 (developed by Toys for Bob) built on this with the new power-up masks. However, this particular mask has never been in a Crash game, either as a mask, enemy, or background decoration. So there’s no proof that it is Crash. But this is the Crash developers teasing something that looks straight out of a Crash game - it’s a reasonable leap to make.
Or is it (dun dun dunnnnnn)?Toys for Bob recently left the clutchesofActivisionto become independent. The tiki logo is one Toys for Bob has used since 2020, regardless of Crash, and therefore this is likely just a placeholder while the website is cleaned up to remove the Activision connection and relaunch/rebrand as a fully independent studio. Nothing to see here folks.
Toys For Bob Has Unfinshed Business With Spyro
OR IS THERE (DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNNN)?! While it is just the Toys for Bob logo, it still feels a little cryptic. Plus, it’s purple. The logo is not usually purple. I understand I may be reading way too much into this, but there could be a secret hint in this logo. Little was revealed about the deal that saw Toys for Bob leave Activision at the time, but it was quickly followed by news thatCrash Team Rumblewould be shutting down. This was assumed to be becauseit was very rubbishand thus Activision didn’t want to waste another studio on it without Toys for Bob around, but what if it was because Toys for Bob scooped up the mascot on its way out?
It’s a long shot. We have heard nothing to suggest Toys for Bob bought Crash when it left Activision. But if you go with me for a second that it did, it may well have boughtSpyrotoo. It feels like Spyro and Crash are a package deal these days, and Toys for Bob also made Spyro: Reignited. With a few teases of a new Spyro appearing in Crash 4 and its artbook, it was assumed Toys for Bob was working on this alongside Crash Team Rumble. That would be my (extremely hopeful) guess as to the intent of this tease - TfB either bought Spyro or, more likely, was allowed to keep making it after leaving Activision.
Xbox retiterated its support for Crash and Spyro after TfB’s departure, and plenty of devs have been contracted to games without owning them themselves, or being owned themselves. It’s difficult to know what Xbox wants aftershutting down Tango Gameworks in the wake of Hi-Fi Rush, but having TfB on Spyro just makes sense.
Could Spyro 4 Still Be In Development?
If a Spyro game was in motion when Toys for Bob left, there are a few things that could have happened to it. First, Toys for Bob didn’t buy Spyro and Activision leaves this half formed Spyro game to rot. Alternatively, Activision could give it to another studio to finish off -Vicarious Visions would be the obvious port of call, but that’s now part of the CoD machine.
Beenox might be next, but that has been a CoD Plus Side Projects studio for even longer. If Toys for Bob did buy Spyro, then it may be able to keep working on whatever it was making, or might have had to scrap it all and start from scratch. Right now, there’s no way of knowing. Then there’s the fact TfB didn’t even need to buy Spyro outright. Just because it’s independent doesn’t meanit can’t continue to do contract development for Xbox (who now owns Activision), and that could mean it’s still able to work on Spyro 4 without being an Activision company.
Of course, I might be getting way ahead of myself. This was assumed to be a tease for Crash and now seems to just be a placeholder for a website update. There’s no indication that Toys for Bob bought either mascot, and if it did, it’s tough to imagine that included the work-in-progress development of Spyro 4. But underneath all of the doubt and the logic, it could be a new Spyro. Or a new Crash. Or something else. Or nothing. Probably nothing. Dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnnn.
