Why did Crash and Spyro lose Playstation exclusivity after such huge success?

[Box]

I never understood why Sony didn't buy the rights to Crash and Spyro? These were rhe PlayStation mascots and while Ratchet,Jak and Spyro were better IMHO, they didn't sell as well. I feel like it was a mistake for the them to no longer be PS exclusive, and its almost like they not only let the franchise die, but lost Nintendo level mascots and recognition for the console.

I wonder if naughty dog is as disappointed with all the trash tier sequels and remakes as many others are...

 

[Bryank75]

They should be returned to Naughty Dog and Insomniac, it could be a huge moment...it deserves to be something on a stage.

I think the fandom would really love that and it would be worth the money to make it right.

They could do a proper kart racer and smash bros style game easily with all of those characters too.

I do wonder if Activision would sell.... might be very difficult now after all that has passed.

 

[Zzero]

Crash, especially, remains profitable for Acti, Sony would have to pay a lot to get that IP. They really should have brought them 20 years ago. It is weird that they didn't, though it also didn't exactly hurt them back then either with Jack, Rachet, Sly, etc. taking the baton immediately.

 

[MrRevocs1256]

Universal was a very toxic place to work in, to the point that Insomniac were willing to let go of Spyro so that they would be free from them.
As for Crash, Universal wanted to make a PS2 exclusive Crash game called "Crash Bandicoot Evolution" where Mark Cerny would have been the the lead Director of the project, but then Universal made a deal behind his back with Konami to make it multiplat. This lead to Cerny dropping out and taking his concepts with him, The Wrath of Cortex was a rush job that was made to release the game during the holiday season.
During PS2 Sony didnt really need Crash and Spyro anymore, they had Sly, Ratchet & Clank and Jak Daxter for their platformers.

 

[KnittedKnight]

Sony, like MS, didn't think of hoarding IP after been comfortably in the lead during the PS1/PS2 era. When the decision to make a bid for the IP was considered, which I'm sure there was, they either offered too little or decided that they would have to offer "too much" for it. End result is what you got today.

Third party deals came easy by that time so it was a different mindset for the execs. You don't need "Crash" when you can replace him with "Ratchet", "Sly" or "Jak".

It's unfortunate cause only Sly replaced the Crash void somewhat for me. Never liked Ratchet nor Jak. Truth be told the Crash IP would have been the hardest hit for me (not COD) in a potential ABK deal going through. Nostalgia is a heavy drug. Luckily for us, that's over for the time being.

 

[KiryuRealty]

I never understood why Sony didn't buy the rights to Crash and Spyro? These were rhe PlayStation mascots and while Ratchet,Jak and Spyro were better IMHO, they didn't sell as well. I feel like it was a mistake for the them to no longer be PS exclusive, and its almost like they not only let the franchise die, but lost Nintendo level mascots and recognition for the console.

I wonder if naughty dog is as disappointed with all the trash tier sequels and remakes as many others are...

Sony never owned them. Simple as that.

Both the first Crash and the first Spyro were set to be published by Universal Interactive, but Sony was so impressed with the technical brilliance of the games that they made a deal to co-publish the games to ensure that they’d get the distribution and marketing that such insanely high-quality games deserved.

It was a smart move in that it helped boost PlayStation sales, and both Sony and Universal made a shitload of money off the arrangement.

Sony tried to buy the IPs, but Universal wouldn’t sell. Insomniac and Naughty Dog finished their commitments to Universal with the third game in each series, and since they’d worked so closely with Sony, both studios kept that relationship going minus Universal, which was in massive disarray due to Vivendi purchasing the gaming division.

Vivendi put out more Crash and Spyro in the PS2 generation, and spread out to Nintendo and Microsoft platforms, and eventually Vivendi corporate decided to get out of gaming and sell off Vivendi Interactive, which had acquired Blizzard by that time, to Activision in the 360/PS3 timeframe.

There are actually some home console Crash Bandicoot games that never came out on a PlayStation system!

 

[Nhomnhom]

When the deal gets blocked Sony should buy those IPs from Activision when renegotiating the CoD deal.

 

[KiryuRealty]

When the deal gets blocked Sony should buy those IPs from Activision when renegotiating the CoD deal.

Jim should walk into Bobby Kotex’ office, kick him in the balls and demand Crash and Spyro be handed over if Activision ever want to release another game on a Sony platform.

 

[Box]

Universal was a very toxic place to work in, to the point that Insomniac were willing to let go of Spyro so that they would be free from them.
As for Crash, Universal wanted to make a PS2 exclusive Crash game called "Crash Bandicoot Evolution" where Mark Cerny would have been the the lead Director of the project, but then Universal made a deal behind his back with Konami to make it multiplat. This lead to Cerny dropping out and taking his concepts with him, The Wrath of Cortex was a rush job that was made to release the game during the holiday season.
During PS2 Sony didnt really need Crash and Spyro anymore, they had Sly, Ratchet & Clank and Jak Daxter for their platformers.

I would have loved to see the Cerny Ps2 Crash game, every Non Naughty dog crash game was pretty mid including Crash 4 and Twinsanity.

 

[Zzero]

Vivendi put out more Crash and Spyro in the PS2 generation, and spread out to Nintendo and Microsoft platforms, and eventually Vivendi corporate decided to get out of gaming and sell off Vivendi Interactive, which had acquired Blizzard by that time, to Activision in the 360/PS3 timeframe.

Thats a mis-statement. When Vivendi Games merged with Activision, Vivendi actually owned 52 percent of the new company -"Activision-Blizzard"-'s stock. Bobby really only wanted WoW and was quick to cut out all of the other "shit" that he was being stuck with (Sierra titles, etc.) but Crash and Spyro managed to stick around as a nice freebie. AB was an engine of profit within what was, at the time, an ailing corporate monstrosity. But it was far from Vivendi's main focus and wasn't ever going to be what Vivendi corporate cared about. Bobby got pissed when Vivendi sent demands, as the majority stock holder, to re-direct game profits toward shareholder dividends to help bolster Vivendi's shitty tv/film assets. Kotick proposed an alternate plan, a buyback, where management would purchase Vivendi's shares back from it, with the two parting ways afterward. The plan went through, with some short-term funding cuts due to having to service the debt they put on but independence achieved.

Vivendi would later withdraw, largely, from the US film/tv market (their successor is NBCUniversal, which I think is controlled by GE or some shit like that.) These days Activision-Blizzard is worth nearly 70 billion dollars, NBCUniversal about 40 billion and over in France Vivendi is worth a mere 13 billion (though they also own lots of joint ventures and other shit that wouldn't show up.)

 

[On Demand]

I think I remember Shawn Layden saying Sony tried to buy the rights back but Activision said no.

 

[Yurinka]

I never understood why Sony didn't buy the rights to Crash and Spyro? These were rhe PlayStation mascots and while Ratchet,Jak and Spyro were better IMHO, they didn't sell as well. I feel like it was a mistake for the them to no longer be PS exclusive, and its almost like they not only let the franchise die, but lost Nintendo level mascots and recognition for the console.

I wonder if naughty dog is as disappointed with all the trash tier sequels and remakes as many others are...

They lost it because the owners of their IPs decided to sell to Activision instead of to Sony and go multi to make more money. And Activision didn't want to sell them to Sony or make them exclusive again.

When the deal gets blocked Sony should buy those IPs from Activision when renegotiating the CoD deal.

If Activision didn't want to sell them before to Sony, they won't want to sell them now.

If Activision doesn't want to sell them, Sony can't buy them.

 

[Fenton]

Jim should walk into Bobby Kotex’ office, kick him in the balls and demand Crash and Spyro be handed over if Activision ever want to release another game on a Sony platform.

 

[Eternal_Wings]

If ABK is fully blocked on May also by EU and the deal also officially fell through (Deadline June 2023), I could imagine that Activision will sell some of their studios/IPs. Sony should then grab Beenox and Toys4Bob + Spyro/Crash IP.

 

[Kokoloko]

Because Sony made a mistake

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Crash, especially, remains profitable for Acti, Sony would have to pay a lot to get that IP. They really should have brought them 20 years ago. It is weird that they didn't, though it also didn't exactly hurt them back then either with Jack, Rachet, Sly, etc. taking the baton immediately.

Didn't Crash 4 bomb at retail? The remakes did well because they were remakes of games people are nostalgic for, but I guess that didn't translate over to Crash 4 all that much.

They lost it because the owners of their IPs decided to sell to Activision instead of to Sony and go multi to make more money. And Activision didn't want to sell them to Sony or make them exclusive again.

Welp, that didn't work out so well for them in the end. The vast majority of the Crash audience is on PlayStation platforms, to no surprise, and Crash 4 was a failure at retail. Part of that may have to do with Sony not getting marketing rights like with the Crash remake, so they couldn't benefit from the PlayStation brand in association (or nostalgia).

If Activision didn't want to sell them before to Sony, they won't want to sell them now.

If Activision doesn't want to sell them, Sony can't buy them.

We don't know if ABK were unwilling to sell to Sony, or if Sony simply weren't interested in buying the IP rights. And if ABK do want to sell the IP rights to Sony, Sony may not be interested in buying them (for whatever reasons).

 

[AshHunter216]

Didn't Crash 4 bomb at retail? The remakes did well because they were remakes of games people are nostalgic for, but I guess that didn't translate over to Crash 4 all that much.



Welp, that didn't work out so well for them in the end. The vast majority of the Crash audience is on PlayStation platforms, to no surprise, and Crash 4 was a failure at retail. Part of that may have to do with Sony not getting marketing rights like with the Crash remake, so they couldn't benefit from the PlayStation brand in association (or nostalgia).



We don't know if ABK were unwilling to sell to Sony, or if Sony simply weren't interested in buying the IP rights. And if ABK do want to sell the IP rights to Sony, Sony may not be interested in buying them (for whatever reasons).

IMO, Sony’s biggest mistakes with regards to purchasing is not securing crash and Spyro if they were able to, and not buying Fromsoft before they got big.

 

[KiryuRealty]

If ABK is fully blocked on May also by EU and the deal also officially fell through (Deadline June 2023), I could imagine that Activision will sell some of their studios/IPs. Sony should then grab Beenox and Toys4Bob + Spyro/Crash IP.

Why?

Activision wasn’t in need of salvation through a buyout, it was just a way for Bobby to get a golden parachute and avoid being fired for the harassment scandals and toxic work environment his leadership fostered.

By law in the United States and elsewhere, you are not allowed to make changes at an executive level during a merger. That loophole kept the board of Activision from being able to fire Bobby as he well deserved. That’s why he pushed for the sale even though Activision is ridiculously profitable.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

IMO, Sony’s biggest mistakes with regards to purchasing is not securing crash and Spyro if they were able to, and not buying Fromsoft before they got big.

Crash & Spyro I'm still not so sure on; I mean they have a good deal of nostalgia with PS gamers for sure, but they've both become relegated to also-rans since the 6th gen, and that's a long time ago. Although the Crash remakes revitalized the IP (well, maybe. Crash 4 didn't do well at retail).

Wholeheartedly agreed on From Software though. If Bloodborne sold a bit better I think Sony would've acquired them back a few years ago, because the talent is clearly there. Best they can do now is maybe partner with From Software on a sequel to that or Demon's Souls or maybe a Souls-like of another Sony IP. But publisher-wise From Software are pretty deep-in with Bandai-Namco, and they seem pretty set on multiplatform going forward.

Maybe Sony can partner with From Software on a new IP and Sony get marketing rights to it (and some special arrangement with Bandai-Namco on PS & PC sales), but the game essentially is multiplat with Bandai-Namco publishing it on Xbox & PC platforms.

 

[KiryuRealty]

IMO, Sony’s biggest mistakes with regards to purchasing is not securing crash and Spyro if they were able to, and not buying Fromsoft before they got big.

Why do so many of you out there struggle with the concept that you can’t buy something that the owner isn’t willing to sell?