Bandicoot

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…

Activision Blizzard Activision studio Toys for Bob — best known for its work on franchises like Crash Bandicoot, Skylanders, and Spyro — is separating from Microsoft and going independent. It isn’t completely leaving Xbox and Activision behind, though, as the studio is looking to form a partnership with those companies. The developer, which was reportedly impacted heavily by the January 2024 Xbox layoffs, announced the news in a blog post written by studio heads Paul Yan and Avery Lodato. “We believe that now is the…

‘When people are playing video games, they want to have fun,” Josh Mancell, composer for Naughty Dog’s early Crash Bandicoot games, tells me. It’s a simple statement, but one that laid the foundations for everything the PlayStation’s most famous mascot would come to represent. Even when players were banging their heads against their CRT TVs in frustration as the paranoid, eerie music of Slippery Climb began playing again for the hundredth time, Crash Bandicoot was fun. And Mancell’s soundtrack was there, from beginning to…

1962 – 2023 This morning has shone a sad light on the news that voice actor Brendan O’Brien passed away earlier this year at the age of 60 — The American performer had starred in several films, TV shows, and video games, but will be best known to video game fans as the original voice of PlayStation platforming hero, Crash Bandicoot. O’Brien’s passing happened back on March 23, but this evaded public notice until this past weekend, when game developer Tony Grayson reported the news on Twitter. A eulogy was also added to…

Game developer King said today it’s shutting down Crash Bandicoot: On the Run. The Android and iOS title didn't last long, as it had just launched in March 2021. King announced on its Facebook page (via Eurogamer) that it would shut down the game’s servers on February 16th, 2023, after which you’ll no longer be able to play. All in-app purchases are already turned off, and players will have until the game’s last day to spend any purchased purple crystals. The game was an auto-runner in the vein of Temple Run. Holding…

A new Crash Bandicoot online multiplayer game is on the way. The 4v4 team-based Crash Team Rumble launches on PS5 and PS4, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One. The game, which supports cross-platform play, will arrive in 2023. In the game, you team up with three other players to bank fruits into your drop-off zone while trying to defend the opposing team’s goal. You can play in various arenas and choose from heroes like Crash and Tawna Bandicoot or villains Doctor Neo Cortex and Dingodile (among others). Each character has a…

Activision has confirmed that Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time will be coming to Steam on October 18. Within that announcement, it seems that they’re teasing a new Crash Bandicoot game’s arrival, and it could be announced at The Game Awards. YouTube creator and Twitch streamer CanadianGuyEh recently received a special package from Activision, containing a pizza box with the phrase “Aku Aku’s Steam-in pizza shack” on the front (via, Games Radar). On a video on his YouTube channel, he notes “The Steam part is on the…

Plus, Crash 4 is coming to Steam There might be some Crash Bandicoot news in store for the end of the year. A promotional teaser being set out to influencers has some suspicious details on it, which fans speculate may hint at an upcoming reveal. A promotional pizza box sent to influencer Canadian Guy Eh had the release date for the upcoming Steam release of Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time on it. It’s labelled out with the October 18 release date. But below that on the box is something teasing a new “Wumpa Pizza”,…

Activision Blizzard studio Toys For Bob appears to have teased its next project after 2020’s Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time.  The Spyro Reignited Trilogy and Skylanders developer began supporting development of Call Of Duty: Warzone in 2021, although the studio now appears to be teasing its 18th original game. After a tweet from August 15 asked Twitter users to guess all 18 of the studio’s titles in order, the results showed that the 18th title is in fact after Crash Bandicoot 4, which was Toys For Bob’s most recent…

PlayStation Plus monthly free games for July 2022 are now official. PS Plus subscribers, across all three tiers — PS Plus Essential, PS Plus Extra, and PS Plus Deluxe/Premium — will be able to add Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan, and Arcadegeddon to their game library from July 5 to August 1. Notably, both the PS4 and PS5 versions of Crash Bandicoot 4, and Arcadegeddon will be available. Meanwhile, Man of Medan is a PS4 only title. Of course, most PS4 games are backwards…