The future of Crash Bandicoot is in question after Activision Blizzard redirects developer Toys For Bob towards working on Call of Duty: Warzone as a support studio.
Toys For Bob, who is best known for their most recent release, Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, and who has also worked on titles such as the Spyro: Reignited Trilogy and Skylanders, has been transferred to Activision’s main IP to work as a support studio on the wartime juggernaut, Call of Duty.
Coming after the recent update, Toys For Bob will specifically be working on Call of Duty: Warzone’s Season 3, as well as future updates to the battle royale spin-off.
Unfortunately, this has lead to a max exodus of talent from the studio, both via layoffs and personal decisions, as pointed out by Eurogamer. Character designer Nicholas Kole, who worked on Crash Bandicoot 4 tweeted that “it’s the end of an era, but I wish my former coworkers still with TFB all the best with what’s ahead!”. They followed up that post by saying “everyone I interfaced with and worked along was let go, I’m very glad it’s not a totally shuttering.”
The news comes on the heels of Activision Blizzard also making the decision to merge the Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1+ 2 developers, Vicarious Visions, into Blizzard to work on the upcoming remaster of Diablo 2.
While Crash Bandicoot and their various IP’s focused on younger audiences are still in play for future releases, it seems Activision Blizzard is either planning on moving on from development in this sector or will carry on the work elsewhere, as they continue to eliminate their broader development to focus on their top-earning series.
As we give best wishes to an extremely talented studio on what is coming up next from them, we must also find a way to support the developers now looking for work after another unfortunate end.
UPDATE: We have received a statement from an Activision spokesperson,
“Reports of layoffs at Toys For Bob are incorrect. There has not been a reduction in personnel recently at the studio. The development team is operating fully and has a number of full-time job openings at this time. The studio is excited to continue supporting Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, and more recently provide additional development support to Call of Duty: Warzone.”
