Toys For Bob, the studio most known for their work on the Spyro remake and Crash Trilogy, and as of recent, Crash Bandicoot 4, has been confirmed to have been hit with some layoffs as the studio announces their new involvement in Call of Duty Warzone.
Toys for Bob officially announced on Twitter today that they have been brought in as a support team in order to help develop content for the third season of Call of Duty Warzone.
Toys for Bob is proud to support development for Season 3 of Call of Duty #Warzone, and look forward to more to come. #LETSGO dev squads! #Verdansk84 pic.twitter.com/ERmFSWeaIk
— Toys For Bob (@ToysForBob) April 29, 2021
Toys for Bob is proud to support development for Season 3 of Call of Duty #Warzone, and look forward to more to come. #LETSGO dev squads! #Verdansk84
To respond to this news, ex lead character designer for both the Spyro Trilogy and Crash Bandicoot 4, Nicholas Kole confirmed that he and everyone that he worked along with have been let go from the studio.
It’s the end of an era, but I wish my former coworkers still with TFB all the best with what’s ahead!
— Nicholas Kole (@FromHappyRock) April 30, 2021
Same! Altho everyone I interfaced with and worked along was let go, I’m very glad it’s not a totally shuttering
— Nicholas Kole (@FromHappyRock) April 30, 2021
It’s unclear whether Toys For Bob is being placed to work on Warzone temporarily, or if it’s only a few of the staff while the rest work on another game, but Nicholas did comment saying that him or anyone on his team aren’t working on a new Spyro or Crash Bandicoot.
https://twitter.com/FromHappyRock/status/1387970132123688964?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1387970132123688964%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmp1st.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D150681action%3Dedit
We do hope that them working on Warzone is just a temporary thing and more so to due with the fact that they simply need some work to keep busy until their next project.
Sadly, this feels very reminiscent to what Activision did to did to Vicarious Visions, the developers behind the recent Tony Hawk Remakes. Three months ago the studio was reportedly absorbed into Activision Blizzard in order to work on the Diablo 2 Remake.
Whether this move for Toys For Bob is any indication of that is left in the air. We definitely hope that’s not the case, as we would love to see another Crash Bandicoot sequel from the studio. We’ve reached out to Activision for any possible comment on the studio’s future.