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Crash Bandicoot 4, Spyro Reignited Trilogy Dev Toys For Bob Is Splitting From Activision

https://www.gameinformer.com/news/2024/02/29/crash-bandicoot-4-spyro-reignited-trilogy-dev-toys-for-bob-is-splitting-from

The team is also behind games like Skylanders, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, and more.

Crash Bandicoot 4, Spyro Reignited Trilogy Dev Toys For Bob Is Splitting From Activision

This is GREAT news. This means they can focus on making great original games and not be dragged into working on call of duty. Please just give me a new Spyro.

29 comments

echo64

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This is fairly confusing. Toys for Bob were owned wholey by Activision, ergo they were then owned by Microsoft. Now they are ... free? And exploring a relationship with Microsoft?

It's hard to understand how this happened unless Microsoft wanted to close the studio and offered them independence instead. But then why work on a new thing?

MajorHavoc

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It's hard to understand how this happened unless Microsoft wanted to close the studio and offered them independence instead.

Could be. Microsoft closing a studio wholesale after acquiring Activision would invite anti-trust action from various governments.

simple

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I'm fairly sure Microsoft just saw that the studio had potential and didn't want them to be tied to ActiBlizz.

echo64

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So move them anywhere else in the company, they owned them outright.

Omegamanthethird

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They let Bungie go as well. Maybe it was just a downsizing decision. Their roles were redundant or they didn't want to invest in whatever they were proposing. Idk.

Aielman15

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So, T4B splits from Microsoft-owned ActiBlizz... To keep working with Microsoft. Odd.

But anyway, they were one of the very few developers I cared about in the ActiBlizz group, so I'm happy to see them going independent. I hope it turns out fine for them.

I suppose this also means that Microsoft is not interested in having a new Spyro/Crash game? Otherwise, why let them split up?

altima_neo

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Doesnt seem terribly odd. I dont think they get to keep any of the IPs they worked on, meaning MS can still make Spyro/Crash with any of their other developers. What this does mean, though, is that T4B is able to work on their own IP that they will own the rights to, and partner with Microsoft to publish the game.

QuaternionsRock

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So weird that Microsoft owns the rights to Crash now. That little fucker was the PS1 mascot in my mind.

NOT_RICK

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And now Sony owns the dev that made Xbox relevant. It’s definitely gotten weird in the industry the past few years

altima_neo

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Though, they're definitely not the juggernaut they used to be. A lot of people like destiny, but I didn't care for it. It doesn't have the same magic Halo had.

altima_neo

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It's deeper than that, when you think about it. MS owns the rights to Crash and Spyro, but also Banjo Kazooie, Perfect Dark, and Killer Instinct. Like damn, not even Nintendo was safe.

brsrklf

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So one can apparently get free from the depths of the Call of Duty mines. Good for them.

AceFuzzLord

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Under normal circumstances, I'd never recommend a remake/remaster of a game, but the Reignited Trilogy is the only acception so far.

I love how in the 3rd game, it fixes the issue I have where the game will stop the music when you get close to the black portals that take you to the minigames like sections in levels. When the music would stop in the original, I never liked it as a kid because it made me feel uncomfortable. It still does.

Hell, there was one section that wasn't even scary but still used to absolutely scare me as a kid that I didn't even realize I already passed on the Trilogy. But when playing on an emulator before getting the trilogy, I got absolute dread at the same part. Absolutely made me feel a similar terror to when I would play as a kid. Don't remember the level, but it's the portal thing leading to the circular water arena area.

Zagorath

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Under normal circumstances, I'd never recommend a remake/remaster of a game, but the Reignited Trilogy is the only acception so far.

I don't have a strong memory of the original, and I haven't actually played the remaster, but was the Crash remaster not also good?

I would definitely add the Age of Empires Definitive Editions to that list, too. 2 and 3, at least. And fingers crossed for Age of Mythology Retold.

GreenAlex

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The Crash remake is definitely an improvement for the first game as it lacked analogue support. The others, at least as a lifelong fan, bit of a mixed bag. Good and well done, but I prefer the PS1 version of the second two games. The physics are less precise in the remakes and the graphical and musical changes give it a worse atmosphere for me. But for a newbie, they're still great.

AceFuzzLord

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I don't have the Crash remaster, so I don't know. I also haven't played the original Crash games before Revenge of Cortex, so I wouldn't have any reference as to how good they are compared to the original.

Hell, I only have reference to how good the Reignited Trilogy is to Year of the Dragon since that's the first Spyro game I ever played.

I also have never played Age of Empires, so I'll take your word on that one.

Zagorath

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Gateway to Glimmer was the one I owned as a kid, playing a bunch of 1 at a friend's house and renting 3 a few times from the video rental store. I had really fond memories of the unique mechanics in 3 and was very excited to see the game remastered so I could finally sit down and play through the whole thing in one relatively short amount of time.

Stalinwolf

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Spyro Reignited is a beautiful remake. The vibe and ambience of some of those levels is absolutely unreal. This has to be my favorite one, hands down. Spyro 1 was on an entirely different level in terms of mood. 2 and 3 just don't hit the same, but there is still some great atmosphere.

https://youtu.be/QxEWPRYPaBk?si=os80ZNeZTRCV8724

Paradachshund

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Totally agree. There's something so focused about the first one. Two and three are good in their own ways and obviously much more expansive, but the in the original you just go.

Stalinwolf

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The sequels just felt too busy, as though the developers tried to jam so many activities and variance into every inch of the map that it wound up feeling extremely chaotic as a result. Even the soundtracks of 2 and 3 seem to reflect this feeling. It's like they had a lot of pressure on them to deliver everything bigger and better than before, and it took a lot of focus off of what made Spyro so charming in the first place. The games have no chill.

Spyro 1 levels felt like mystic worldspaces to explore, with room to breathe and pretty sights to enjoy. 2 and 3 just feel like dense puzzles, with ladders and layers and tunnels and ledges, and this thing tieing back to this thing, and this thing opening up later once you get this other thing, and it just didn't feel very organic or authentic. It was like running around in the inside of a clock.

p03locke

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Also, Star Control 2, which recently got a free release on Steam. Though, I'm not sure what happen with the Star Control franchise, since that specific game is now open-source.

ripcord

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They've been working on a sequel for quite a while, including doing regular hours-long YouTube videos although I've never followed closely enough to get a feel for how far along they are or what their plans really are. Most of the posts are pretty abstract and the videos seem mostly like futzing with assets and tweaking melee modes and things.

Tangent: SC2 is possibly my favorite game of all time for different reasons. And honestly I liked Star Control Origins a whole lot, for anyone who hasn't played it but liked SC2. It's rough and dirivitive in some ways, but excellent in others, and improves on a lot of things in SC2 (including a bunch of quality-of-life stuff). And the writing and voice acting and things is pretty good. Actually, 3 of my favorite races come from the game.

SplashJackson

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I thought spyro and crash were made by naughty dog or insomniac

llamapants

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Way back yes, toys for bob took over when they remastered crash and spyro, or maybe they took over way before that. I'm not sure

Siethron

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Wasn't wrath of cortex crash 4?

I remember getting that on the ps2 but every no loading screen took 40 seconds

wizardbeard

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Wouldn'g the rights for Spyro and Crash stay with the rights holders, not Toys for Bob?

EvilBit

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Even if they do, who cares? These are the guys who created Star Control and Skylanders without the benefit of them being a remake of a sequel of a reboot of a sequel of a sequel. Give me more original TfB IP!

GreenAlex

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Hopefully this is a net positive. I'm guessing with the partnership they still want to work on Crash and Spyro, and I hope they do. They've been held in limbo for way too long. Would be pretty crazy for Crash to have an indie dev.

Computerchairgeneral

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So, they're no longer part of Activision and presumably no longer part of Microsoft, but they want to keep working with Microsoft? So will they be completely independent or are they just no longer under Activision in the Microsoft hierarchy? Either way I hope a partnership with Microsoft means they might be able to make Spyro 4. Also, excited at the prospect of studios breaking away from Embracer. Obviously there is no guarantee that they'll be treated better, but at least they have a better chance of not being shut down by the end of the month.