Toys for Bob announced on Feb. 29 that they are spinning off from Activision and Microsoft to become their own independent studio and return to their roots.
The developer behind the Skylanders series and remasters of Crash Bandicoot and Spyro was acquired by Activision in 2005, which was in turn acquired by Microsoft last year. Now, they said they want to improve their games by making them their own.
“Over the years, we’ve inspired love, joy, and laughter for the inner child in all gamers. We pioneered new IP and hardware technologies in Skylanders. We raised the bar for best-in-class remasters in Spyro Reignited Trilogy. We’ve taken Crash Bandicoot to innovative, critically acclaimed new heights,” a post announcing the separation on the Toys for Bob website said.
“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.”
Though they will be considered an indie studio, they still hope to have a relationship with Microsoft. They won’t own the rights to Spyro and Crash Bandicoot, but they may still be able to work on future titles.
“To make this news even more exciting, we’re exploring a possible partnership between our new studio and Microsoft,” the post says. “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.”
“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,” it continues. “So, keep your horns on and your eyes out for more news. Thank you to our community of players for always supporting us through our journey. We can’t wait to share updates on our new adventure as an indie studio!”
This is a rare win during a rough time for the games industry, as many large companies lay off mass numbers of their staff. Toys for Bob itself lost 40% of its staff amidst major Microsoft layoffs, and went fully remote within a few weeks after its offices shut down. By becoming an independent studio, the employees of Toys for Bob will no longer be at the whim of a massive conglomerate.