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Crash Bandicoot 4 dev partners with Xbox for next game — after leaving Xbox

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Crash Bandicoot emerging from a tunnel, with a smirk on his face.
Activision

Toys for Bob, the now-independent game developer best known for its work on Call of Duty and Crash Bandicoot games, announced that it struck a deal with Xbox, its former parent company, to publish its next game.

The studio revealed the move on X (formerly Twitter) Friday, adding that while the game is still in the early stages of development, the team is “working hard on an experience we’re so sooo inspired about.”

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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

Toys for Bob hasn’t revealed any details about its next project, and currently, the website just features a static image of the company’s logo. The post asserts that we won’t hear any updates for a while.

The studio went independent earlier this year after its original parent company, Activision, was acquired by Microsoft in a historic $69 billion deal. The developer was heavily impacted by the subsequent Microsoft layoffs, with reportedly 86 people let go from their jobs, and its headquarters in Novato, California, closed. However, in the blog post announcing the move, studio heads Paul Yan and Avery Lodato wrote that they were still interesting in collaborating with Microsoft in the future. So it doesn’t appear that there is any bad blood between the two companies.

“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,” the studio says.

Toys for Bob had its hands in a ton of Activision projects, including Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, games in the Skylanders series, and multiple Call of Duty games. Most recently, it was working on Crash Team Rumble, a 4v4 competitive platformer that features Crash Bandicoot characters.

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Carli Velocci
Carli Velocci
Contributor, Games
Carli is a technology, culture, and games editor and journalist. They were the Gaming Lead and Copy Chief at Windows Central…
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