A few years ago, things were really looking up for the Crash Bandicoot franchise. The first three games received a multiplatform remaster, and Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time proved to be a welcome return for the series. Crash 4 even hinted at plans for a potential fifth game, but those plans seemed to fall through, with developer Toys for Bob becoming a support studio on the Call of Duty series instead. It’s all been a bit confusing for fans, but DidYouKnowGaming’s Liam Robertson has released a new video unearthing several details about the project, and how it all fell apart.ย
Apparently, Crash Bandicoot 5 would have united the game’s titular character with Spyro the Dragon. The two Activision owned characters had appeared in games together in the past, going back to 2004. However, the majority of these crossovers took place in Game Boy Advance titles, or spin-offs like Skylanders. An actual 3D platformer starring the two characters would have been quite a bit different, and played to the strengths of both franchises.ย
Videos by ComicBook.com
In Crash 5, Uka Uka would have returned as the main villain, getting access to a multi-dimensional portal that would have brought him to Spyro’s universe. After Uka Uka corrupted the Dragon Elders of that universe, Crash and Spyro would have had to team up to stop him. Toys for Bob was even looking at ideas for the two characters being playable together, with Spyro potentially being able to carry Crash at points. Pre-development of the game took place over about a three to four month span, during which a lot of concept art was produced, showing the two characters working together.ย
As detailed by Robertson, the project was ultimately scrapped due to Activision being underwhelmed by sales of Crash Bandicoot 4. Despite strong reviews, Crash Bandicoot 4 launched during the fall of 2020, where it was overshadowed by a number of other games, as well as the launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Toys for Bob also attributes some of the game’s struggles to the fact that it was not released for Switch at launch, instead coming out five months after the versions released on PS4 and Xbox One.ย
Back in June, artist Nicholas Kole said on X/Twitter that “some day folks will hear about the Crash 5 that never was and it’s gonna break hearts.” Now that we know what was planned, it seems like that’s very much the case! Following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, Toys for Bob has become an independent studio. At this time, we don’t know what the team is working on next, though it will apparently be published by Xbox. It’s sad to see some of the ideas that could have been, but hopefully the next project from Toys for Bob will still prove exciting for fans of Crash and Spyro.ย
How do you feel about this concept for Crash 5? Are you sad it didn’t happen? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter atย @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky atย @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram atย @Dachampgaming!
