Toys For Bob is now an independent developer, but the studio has reached an agreement with the company it split from three months ago…

Toys For Bob announced on Twitter that they have reached an agreement with Xbox to publish their next game. The game is still in the early stages of development, so don’t expect to hear anything about the studio’s new project for the next year or two, but they did want to let us know that they are hard at work on an experience (yes, that’s the word they used, not the term game…) that should inspire the team quite a bit. They can’t wait to tell us more about the game.

We're excited to announce that we'll be partnering with @Xbox to publish our next new game. We're still very early in development, so you might not hear from us for a bit – but know that we're working hard on an experience we're so sooo inspired about! Can't wait to share more 💜 pic.twitter.com/6EqrQbabpv

— Toys For Bob (@ToysForBob) May 31, 2024

Activision acquired Toys for Bob (which was part of Crystal Dynamics from 1993 to 2000) in 2005, making it part of Activision Blizzard for 19 years. The US studio was founded in 1989 by Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford, best known for the Star Control IP, and yes, this was the team behind the IP. Under Crystal Dynamics, they produced Pandemonium! (1996) and The Unholy War (1998), and under Activision, Madagascar (2005), the Skylanders franchise (2011-2016), and the Nintendo Switch port of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, then Spyro Reignited Trilogy (2018), and in 2020, Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time. After that, Activision Blizzard sent them to the Call of Duty slaughterhouse, so it’s no wonder they left the publisher, which was taken over by Microsoft…

But the Toys For Bob-Xbox deal has been rumored for months (it was the talk of the town back in March…), so the fact that the studio, currently run by Paul Yan and Avery Lodato, has finally returned to its former owner should come as no surprise.

Considering that they were also affected by the cutbacks at Activision Blizzard under Microsoft, it’s strange that the studio is working with them again.

Source: Variety