What you need to know
- Toys for Bob, one of the studios under Microsoft-owned Activision Blizzard, is going independent.
- Best known for working on games like the Spyro Reignited Trilogy, the team has primarily worked in a support role on Call of Duty for the past few years.
- While the team is going independent, the company is exploring a partnership with Microsoft.
Another studio is breaking away from its parent company.
Microsoft’s Activision studio Toys for Bob, best known for working on games like the Spyro Reignited Trilogy as well as providing support on the Call of Duty franchise, is breaking away as an independent studio, as shared by the studio’s leadership on Thursday.
“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,” write chief creative officer Paul Yan and studio head Avery Lodato.
“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.”
Analysis: A surprising turn of events, but I’m hopeful for the future
I’m definitely surprised to see Toys for Bob breaking away on its own right now, but this is certainly a vastly preferable alternative to the studio being shut down or continuing to only work on Call of Duty titles.
I’d been hoping that after Activision Blizzard was acquired by Microsoft that the team would be working on more Crash and Spyro games. Maybe that’ll still happen in the future, or maybe the partnership with Microsoft will be something completely new. Regardless, I’m hopeful for this newly-independent team’s future.
