Skylanders and Crash Bandicoot studio Toys For Bob is leaving Activision and going independent

Skylanders and Crash Bandicoot developer Toys for Bob has announced plans to go independent.

The California studio was acquired by Activision in 2005, and has worked on a variety of Skylanders, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro and Call of Duty games since then.

However, in a new statement released today by studio heads Paul Yan and Avery Lodato, it was announced that the developer will be going it alone.

“Over the years, we’ve inspired love, joy, and laughter for the inner child in all gamers,” the statement reads.

“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.

“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.”

In their statement, Yan and Lodato also say that despite the decision to go independent, they’re “exploring a possible partnership” with 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,” they add.

“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.”

In recent years, Toys For Bob has assisted with development on the Call of Duty series, but is best known as the studio behind the Skylanders series, as well as 2020’s Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time and 2018’s Spyro Reignited Trilogy.

Its most recent game was Crash Team Rumble, an online multiplayer “strategic platformer” which was released to a mixed reception from critics, with the PS5 version receiving a Metacritic score of 67.