Toys for Bob is going Independent
- Thread starter Jim Ryan
- Start date
Well, thats weird. I wonder if, but doubt that, they kept any of the IP they worked on.
My guess? It was this or shut down.
Edit: Also, at this point Activision is literally just CoD, nothing else is left.
My guess? It was this or shut down.
Edit: Also, at this point Activision is literally just CoD, nothing else is left.
Microsoft should sell Crash and Spyro back to Sony, Insomniac and Naughty Dog were the creators behind it
Independent but still wants to partner with MS.
Likely a term of the independence. No one "wants to partner with MS".
OP
OP
More like they have no idea what they are going to do and will take anything offered. Also, they probably have some contract to keep the shitty Crash GaaS going for a few more months. Who knows, maybe they can even revive their leaked/rumored Donkey Kong pitch.
Gain your independence BUT you must do us a couple favors first
a banjo game will sell peanuts lol. Crash aint doing shit in 2024. MS cut these guys for a reason.
That game will be cancelled and never come out. This is just MS trying to save face when this news drop.
To pay bills they'll need publishers to fund future projects.
So better to don't burn bridges, because maybe in the future MS could want to make a new Spyro or Crash and won't ask 343 or ID Software to make it.
But don't expect them to work in any game from MS soon, if they left and MS allowed them to go pretty likely is because MS didn't have short/mid term plans for them and the only alternative was to shut them down.
When compared to Sony and Nintendo, MS had a weak banner of 1st party IPs.
So MS bought a lot of empty shells mostly because had brands that even nowadays are mostly dead, were popular in the past and still have vale to put them in a banner of IPs owned.
Other than that, specially having let Toys for Bob go, pretty likely they don't have any plans for Spyro and Crash at least for many years. But I assume MS will want to keep these IPs just because of the 'owned IPs' banner.
Regarding Sony, to acquire these IPs wouldn't generate them enough money because unlike in the PS1 days they aren't big sellers. And even if they make crossover games wouldn't match with most of their current IPs.
On top of that, Sony already has a ton of classic Sony IPs in the closet waiting to maybe be ressurrected, and a lot of super popular ones. They aren't short of IPs, so no need to buy.
Personal nostalgia of some boss is the only reason could make Sony buy them, but would be had to justify it as a business so other higher ups probably wouldn't approve it.
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If im Sony / Playstation i would give them a call about working on a new Jak And Daxter or Sly Cooper Game.
So they have shutdown a studio technically only thing is they've decided to try & go it alone , hopefully they succeed , partnering with the people that just shut you down though is ridiculous, I guess they own all the IPs for what toys 4 bob is known for though unfortunately
Be careful what youwish for, fans seem to have been disappointed in Crash 4. That said, I think their ideal project would have been a Crash/Spyro remake-styled Banjo 1 and 2 remake pack (someone else is seemingly in charge of rebooting them so no Threeie for them.) Maybe thats what their pitch to MS is, even. The fact that they were sold off, instead, hints to me that Microsoft really isn't all that interested though.
And, of course, their other use was as bodies to throw at CoD but Microsoft would rather outsource and kill that too so, yeah, no place for them at the table.
A final thought here. Microsoft has tried, even in the recent past, to get kids/all-ages stuff going, including their deal for Lucky's Tale, a generic Crash-a-like. I think that Satya is mandating cuts like this, makes me wonder what he'll mandate next.
If only the got to keep crash & spyro & took vicarious visions with them , I'd say Sony should back them but with them laying off people in their own studios there's fat chance of that happening