NECA has said that Crash will come back, only to say the comment was made in error. NECA works together with Sony for making figures for the Japanese company (a Kratos one will launch shortly). Randy Fall, director of product development said that Sony is indeed planning to revive Crash Bandicoot. This statement was denied a few hours later, as a representative of NECA says that Falk saw a fake image about Crash before his interview, and this is why he said that NECA would work on some figures.

It’s surely just Sony playing with us only to surprise us in the end. Let’s recap how and where we have seen this marsupial in the years since the announcement of the PlayStation 4.

– Before the PS4 launched, Sony released a trailer featuring subtle imagery that suggested Crash Bandicoot‘s return. The same trailer featured Ryu as a taxi cab driver. Both Ultra Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter V were announced a year later.

– Robomodo has asked Activision if it could include Crash Bandicoot in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 but were denied. It was a combination of timing and rights, says Robomodo, not blaming Activision.

– PSX 2015: Sony Computer Entertainment America president and CEO Shawn Layden wore a Crash Bandicoot t-shirt. He similarly wore a Vib Ribbon button-down for an ice bucket challenge video – Vib Ribbon was released on PlayStation Network a few months later.

– The official PlayStation Middle East Twitter account has on and off teased Crash Bandicoot. We wrote about that.

Also, on the NeoGAF forums, a user named BruceLeeRoy teased Crash several times already. Previously, he was correct about Final Fantasy VII’s remake, The Last Guardian on the PS4, Bloodborne and PlayStation All-Stars.

Something is going on, although Crash is owned by Activision until 2021…