For Bob

Someone claims to know what Toys For Bob’s game with Microsoft is, and it’s pretty much what you wanted to hear.

As the video games industry violently contracts to ensure shareholder satisfaction at the cost of making thousands upon thousands of people unemployed, Skylanders studio Toys For Bob have announced they're splitting from Activision Blizzard and Microsoft to go independent. Good for them, but maybe too late for some. Earlier this month, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that it seemed Activision Blizzard were closing Toys For Bob's California headquarters and laying off 86 people. Still, the new independent Toys For Bob say they're working on something new and "exploring a possible partnership" with Microsoft.

Out of the blue, Novato-based game developer Toys for Bob announced it is going indie, splitting from Activision and Microsoft. The brief announcement message says this is a move to 'return to roots' and be a nimble studio once again.

Current Crash and Spyro developer Toys For Bob is spinning itself out of Activision Blizzard.

With Saber Interactive and Gearbox Entertainment reportedly splitting from the Embracer Group, it’s surprising to hear developer Toys for Bob is separating from Activision. The Spyro Reignited Trilogy, Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time! and Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy studio is going private and returning to its roots as a “small and nimble studio.”

Toys for Bob — the Activision Blizzard studio behind the likes of Skylanders, Crash Bandicoot 4, and the Spyro remasters — has announced it's parting ways with Activision to become an independent company once more. It also says it's «exploring a possible partnership» with Microsoft as development on its new game gets underway.

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It hasn’t been a good year for video game developers and publishers, and we’re just now at the end of February! There have been over 7000 job layoffs in the first two months, with 5400+ coming in January, and just this past week, another 1600 have been added to that! This is affecting companies in various ways, and they have to adapt to their new situations if they can. An excellent example of this is Toys For Bob, a small company that Activision Blizzard had bought and recently saw some layoffs. Plus, they decided to forgo having a “formal workplace” and become an entirely work-at-home company.

Amid mass layoffs, studio closures, and general industry uncertainty, today began with a handful of studios and companies reclaiming control of their own destinies. We learned this morning that Saber Interactive and Gearbox are reportedly breaking free of Embracer Group. And now, it looks like Crash Bandicoot developer Toys for Bob has sprung free of Activision and Microsoft.

On the company’s website, Toys for Bob, the developer behind Skylanders and Crash Bandicoot 4, has announced that it’s diverging from Activision Blizzard to become independent.

Skylanders and Crash Bandicoot developer Toys for Bob has announced plans to go independent.

Spyro Reignited Trilogy and Crash Bandicoot developer Toys for Bob will split from Activision to become a privately owned studio, the company announced.

Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time and Spyro: Reignited Trilogy developer Toys for Bob has revealed that it's going independent, just months after being acquired alongside Activision by Microsoft.

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.

Layoffs have been reported at Toys for Bob, the developer behind Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time and the Spyro: Reignited Trilogy. They form part of the ongoing consolidation efforts necessitated by parent company Activision's acquisition by Microsoft, resulting in 1900 roles being made redundant. Some 86 workers have been let go, and the studio's office shuttered. Contrary to some earlier confusion, that's the physical address; Toys for Bob will remain active, and most remaining employees will now work remotely.

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Crash Bandicoot developer Toys for Bob and Call of Duty studio Sledgehammer Games have reportedly lost around 40 per cent and 30 per cent of their staff, respectively.

On September 9 1998, Spyro the Dragon made his mischievous debut on the original PlayStation, capturing the hearts of gamers of all ages. To celebrate 25 years of Spyro, we sat down with both the original developers from Insomniac Games, as well as the team behind the remaster, Spyro Reignited Trilogyat Toys for Bob, to learn how the beloved dragon came to be.