Toy4Bob are leaving the Activision umbrella and going independent. As part of last month’s layoffs 86 employees were let go and the company closed its physical offices. As part of that opting for a smaller, leaner work-from-home approach they have now put up a blog on their website stating their intention to go independent.
*Update: Toys4Bob’s most recent release, Crash Team Rumble, has been giving a final update…update coming on March 4th.
February 29, 2024
BY Paul Yan & Avery Lodato
We’re thrilled to announce that Toys for Bob is spinning off as an independent game development studio!
Over the years, we’ve inspired love, joy, and laughter for the inner child in all gamers. We pioneered new IP and hardware technologies in Skylanders. We raised the bar for best-in-class remasters in Spyro Reignited Trilogy. We’ve taken Crash Bandicoot to innovative, critically acclaimed new heights.
With the same enthusiasm and passion, we believe that now is the time to take the studio and our future games to the next level. This opportunity allows us to return to our roots of being a small and nimble studio.
To make this news even more exciting, we’re exploring a possible partnership between our new studio and Microsoft. And while we’re in the early days of developing our next new game and a ways away from making any announcements, our team is excited to develop new stories, new characters, and new gameplay experiences.
Our friends at Activision and Microsoft have been extremely supportive of our new direction and we’re confident that we will continue to work closely together as part of our future.
So, keep your horns on and your eyes out for more news. Thank you to our community of players for always supporting us through our journey. We can’t wait to share updates on our new adventure as an indie studio!
Talk to you soon!
Toys4Bob had worked on the Crash and Spyro series as well as working in the mines of the Call of Duty yearly machine.
With each passing day, I regret having supported Microsoft in purchasing ABK. When Microsoft has a good family game studio, it lets go. I’m happy for T4B to be able to leave the current administration.
With everything going on in the industry, without the acquisition the studio maybe would’ve just been shut down, not go independent
Like seriously
just look around. I understand it sucks to have that studio and then let it go, but if they plan on working together, that’s what’s important.
The blog says they’re looking to keep working closely with them. Game Pass deals are all they need for family games, they’ve gotten a ton of them into the service already.
With each passing day MS proves how/why they are a competently run business and that they can see the forest for the trees.
Bluey is charting well in most played.
Unbelievably dumb move
While I’m a little sad to see they didn’t want to remain first party for whatever reason (might still be some bad managers left in ABK atm?), at least it seems they’ll still be published by Xbox / Activision for now so we get the benefits of their output and they get to be happy.
I’ve got friends on both sides of the “console wars” so often can overreact to news around Xbox as I get it in the neck, but in this situation if that’s what Toys for Bob wanted I’m happy for them and glad it’s likely to still be on Game Pass and Xbox
We wait years for Xbox to finally acquire a good family friendly studio and then they support them to go independent? What the…?
Good for T4B but I really don’t get Xbox sometimes. T4B will probably be acquired by someone else within a few years.
Hopefully Xbox held on to Crash and Spyro etc.
Double Fine is fine enough. Yeah, I said it. T4B has shrunk a lot thanks ABK who in turn to MS. Plus, this set precedent that Xbox doesn’t kill studios but give them a chance to go elsewhere. Let’s face it, it would die if Bobby was still in charge. To me, I find this nice.
Yes, Xbox still owns Spyro and Crash. ABK purchase is franchise purchase.
I imagine after years of being pushed into being a Call of Duty support studio they saw their chance and went for it, and given Xbox’s push to give studios a relatively high amount of creative freedom - it makes sense that they wouldn’t hold on to a studio that didn’t want to be there. Or perhaps there was the risk of studio closure with all the recent cuts and this was their only option to survive.
Either way I am sad to see them go, I had hoped they would be something truly special under Xbox - but I am glad they will continue to work with Xbox moving forward.