A new video from Did You Know Gaming’s Liam Robertson details how Crash and Spyro developer Toys for Bob has been extensively mismanaged by ex-parent company Activision Blizzard.
Much of the studio’s woes stem from Activision’s reaction to specific games underperforming. After Crash 4: It’s About Time had initial weak sales compared to 2017’s Crash N. Sane Trilogy, the publisher changed its handling of TfB projects.
Crash 4 went on to sell a reported 5 million copies, but Activision Blizzard had pivoted to live-service titles before then. Toys for Bob was made a support studio for Call of Duty in 2021, and also tasked with supporting Blizzard with Overwatch 2.
The studio eventually made a live-service Crash game of its own with 2023’s Crash Team Rumble, which itself had less than a full year of post-launch support before that ended.
Toys for Bob is a victim of the industry’s greatest enemy
After wrapping Crash 4, a small Toys for Bob team started coming up with concepts for future entries. One idea explored for Crash 5, which was very early in production, included a team up between Crash and Spyro the Dragon.
The project was later killed, and it’s further alleged this was one of many single-player titles that had been shot down by Activision Blizzard. Another would-be title was a new Tony Hawk game after that series had been remastered.
Alongside the insight into Crash 5, Robertson’s video provides a detailed look at how the industry’s current ongoing retraction is driven in part by executive incompetence. Several ex-TfB staff claimed Activision Blizzard effectively didn’t know what to do with the studio, and Crash Team Rumble specifically.
Toys for Bob has since gone independent and teamed with Microsoft for its first game post-Activision breakup. It’s currently unclear what said project will be, but the studio is reportedly looking to make the games it’s best at going forward.
