Summary
Toys For Bobhas developed many standout titles over its 35-year history, such asCrash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, theSpyro Reignited Trilogy, theSkylandersseries, and many more. However, the studio is now undergoing a massive shift with the recent announcement that it’s left Activision. This will likely be a good thing forToys For Boband the industry, but it’s not without a few drawbacks.
February 29 sawToys For Bob reveal that it’s going independent. The blog post that accompanied the studio’s announcement, available on its website, stated that Toys For Bob wishes to ‘return to [its] roots of being a small and nimble studio’ and that it’s ‘exploring a possible partnership between [its] new studio and Microsoft’. The nature of that partnership is unknown, but what’s certain is that the studio’s independence is no small splash—it was a subsidiary of Activision since 2005 with a plethora of hits under its belt. This untethering from Activision will undoubtedly cause a stir.
Toys For Bob Leaving Activision Has Its Pros And Cons
Toys For Bob May Have Dodged A Huge Bullet
With big names fromSpyroto Disneyfeaturing in its beloved catalogue, Toys For Bob should be able to find success outside its previous owner. In this respect, it may have secured more longevity than the typical AAA studio can be expected to provide. From Visceral Games to Ensemble Studios, small studios being bought out and subsequently closed down is a tale as old as time—and going indie may have just saved Toys For Bob’s bacon.
Microsoft, the new owner of Activision, is no stranger to the trend of buying out studios before giving them the axe. The aforementioned Ensemble is one example;Fablecreator Lionhead Studios also found itself on the wrong side of corporate downsizing. In fact,Toys For Bob just recently suffered layoffsduring Microsoft’s latest wave of job cuts. The profit range desired by the big AAA companies is always getting further and further out of reach, resulting in more and more cuts at the bottom. The indie market is, overall, in a far more sustainable state.
It’s A Great Time To Go Indie
The indie market is increasingly leading the industry in its development of quality titles. This has been highlighted in 2024,withPalworldbecoming a serious competitor toPokemon(even though it occupies a notably different genre). That’s without mentioning how ubiquitous indie hits likeUndertaleorFive Nights At Freddy’shave become in today’s zeitgeist and online culture. A studio of Toys For Bob’s caliber should be able to carve out a niche for itself, if not something more.
In addition, it’s never been easier to get into games development thanks to the scene’s rise. Though there’s something to be said about alack of oversight on Steam or the eShop, it’s great to see how barriers to entry have relaxed in recent years. This has allowed for more challenges to the established status quo of the AAA industry, not to mention the sprawling kaleidoscope of experiences that have been platformed because of it. All of these factors combined make the case for now being the best possible time for Toys For Bob to spread its wings.
It’s Still A Shame To Miss Out On Toys For Bob’s Big-IP Titles
However, it’s a shame that Toys For Bob will most likely not be working on futureCrash BandicootorSpyrogames.DespiteCrash Team Rumblefalling off a cliffin terms of audience numbers (and just recently shutting down), it’s more a fault of the bloated live-service ecosystem. TheSpyro Reignited TrilogyandCrash Bandicoot 4are still selling to this day, and remain beloved by casual audiences and hardcore fans alike. It’ll be a shame to not see Toys For Bob return to these franchises, but it’s nonetheless great to see the studio off of its leash.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
WHERE TO PLAY
It’s About Time - the critically-acclaimed Crash Bandicoot™ 4: It’s About Time is now on Steam! Crash fourward into a time shattered adventure with your favorite marsupials.Neo Cortex and N. Tropy are back at it again and launching an all-out assault on not just this universe, but the entire multiverse! Crash and Coco are here to save the day by reuniting the four Quantum Masks and bending the rules of reality.New abilities? Check. More playable characters? Yep. Alternate dimensions? Obviously. Ridonkulous bosses? For sure. Same awesome sauce? You bet your sweet jorts. Wait, are they actually jorts? Not in this universe!
