There are so many talented studios working on the Call of Duty franchise, many of which have crafted some of your favorite games. Toys for Bob is one of those studios, and now the Crash Bandicoot 4 developer is leaving the FPS juggernaut in the past. It’s an exciting time for PS5 and Xbox players as the acclaimed developer goes independent.
Toys for Bob, the studio responsible for the excellent Crash Bandicoot trilogy remaster, announces in a new statement that the team “is spinning off as an independent game development studio.” Since 2021, Toys for Bob have worked primarily on Call of Duty titles like battle royale game spin-off Warzone, Modern Warfare 2, and last year’s Modern Warfare 3. It’s a move that was somewhat disheartening at the time, given the developer’s sturdy track record of well received Skylanders games and underrated bangers like Disney’s Extreme Skate Adventure (seriously, what a game).
The same fate is seen across Activision’s roster, with studios like Vicarious Visions also working some of the best FPS games on PS5 and Xbox. However, we’d much rather them get to work on a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 remaster. But it is onwards and upwards for Toys for Bob: “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.”
With lofty goals on the agenda, the studio is “exploring a possible partnership” between itself and Microsoft. Work is currently underway on the “early days” of Toys for Bob’s next game, and to us this partnership sounds like it could be ripe for an Xbox Game Pass collaboration.
Microsoft is all about giving players the best Xbox Game Pass possible, with high-profile day-one releases. Furthermore, the statement adds that “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.”
We’re sure that Toys for Bob will conjure up something special, but it’ll be a while before we see its new PS5 game or new Xbox game. Elsewhere in the news, a fiery new trailer for open-world shooter Terminator Survivors is here, and this canned Star Wars Mandalorian game sounded incredible.