Toys for Bob is Leaving Activision to Become an Independent Studio - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 29 February 2024 / 4,094 Views
Toys for Bob announced it is leaving Activision to become an independent video game studio.
They are currently exploring a possible partnership with Microsoft and are in the early days of developing its next game.
"We’re thrilled to announce that Toys for Bob is spinning off as an independent game development studio!," reads the announcement from Toys for Bob.
"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.
Some changes underway... https://t.co/JACzLFiAho pic.twitter.com/95cZPfVxJ2
— Toys For Bob (@ToysForBob) February 29, 2024
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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I'd rather this than layoffs.
Totally agree with you.
Good for them! They had been part of the CoD machine the past few years and made a game I doubt they were particularly interested in with Crash Team Rumble. Love their games and look forward to what they're able to work on next!
This studio was being wasted on Call of Duty, I’m glad they are getting a new opportunity as an independent studio
My favorite Activision studio breaking free? I’m in.
As long as they get to make their own games, good for them. Although, this seems a little ironic "They are currently exploring a possible partnership with Microsoft..."
awesome, i guess they have the money in bank account!
Now this is the kind of news I like
Good for them, hope they can find the funding.
Better to be out of the Activision cobwebs and not being put to good use,
They have massive talent let them be free and cook sumfin nice again
great! :) …so when’s the next Skylanders game? Spyro? Crash? Maybe Banjo??
They do not own the IP tho. So Microsoft would still need to work with them for that to happen.
GOOD. Now they won't be forced to work on COD.
But this also means they won't work on Crash and Spyro because they don't own the rights to the IP's. Unless they make some kind of deal with Microsoft of course.
Best of luck to them. They might struggle without a recognisable IP to their name, but they obviously calculate the risk of that is smaller than slowly dying under the stifling Activision umbrella.
I wonder if Activision would allow them to make a new Crash or Spyro game in the future. Maybe that ship have sailed.
NICE!
Are Toys for Bob leaving Activision just so they can directly be part of 1st/2nd party Xbox ?
Is them being "independent" just a short term PR stunt ?
Why didn't Xbox just tell Activision what to do with Toys for Bob....or were they so desperate to leave Activision that they 'demanded' to leave ?
Xbox wanted it's "family friendly" studio in-house ?
Is it a case then these Dev's Know that Xbox is too willfully weak to tell Activision what to do ?
Anyway, they are a good studio and should be put onto a Mario Kart killer immediately. And yes, is not that hard to make a better game than Mario Kart 8. Make it skill based instead of dominated by luck....and you're halfway there.
Why would MS let them go? Very weird situation.
No one at the studio wants to work on COD anymore and laying off everyone is a lot more expensive then just letting them go Indie. Microsoft retains the IP, so this is probably a mutually amiable separation.
Yea but that leaves less people to work on COD. How does that help MS? Less COD or delayed COD releases means less revenue. I think we can all agree that's the last thing MS wants right now. COD on GP day 1 is already going to hurt their revenue.
I highly doubt CoD releases are hinging on Toys for Bob 50 man studio to get out the door. MS is better off contracting for CoD and let's Toys for Bob work on their own stuff.
Yes, but they also let people go from the the COD studios. That's a lot of contractors and one of the main complaints from both 343 and Forza devs. Are you seriously suggesting MS go down the same road that's caused issues at two different studios?
I am seriously suggesting it lol. It's not like Xbox can't clean up this contracting issue, hire more staff when they need to, or get 3rd party support studios to help with development.
Well I hope your right I would hate for COD to be hurt by this.
It's not like Toys for Bob was a big part of Cod development anyways
