Crash Bandicoot 5: The Cancelled Spyro Crossover & The Fall of Crash Team Rumble

Today on Game History Secrets, Liam talks about his journey uncovering the development of the cancelled Crash Bandicoot 5, and the fall of Crash Team Rumble. Crash 5 was planned as a crossover with Spyro the Dragon, but the game never came to fruition.

Liam Robertson is a video game researcher and archiver. In his spare time, Liam creates videos and articles for various outlets, and will also be contributing to the Did You Know Gaming channel.

Follow DYKG on:

Sources/Bibliography:

#crashbandicoot #spyro #toysforbob #activision

[WayWardWonderer]

It breaks my heart that Spyro and Crash had both made great comebacks only to be shelved once more.

[Catspirit]

As an artist, I can’t think of anything more soul crushing than getting my fun colorful project shut down and forced to work on call of duty.

[ScratchMyAnchor]

Crash 4 sold better than tons of AAA games but it still wasn't good enough to greenlight what would've been another great single player game that the developers were passionate about. Something the gaming landscape desperately needs as opposed to failed live service trash. Fuck Activision

[Mei-dos]

"It's my IP to sit on and do nothing with"

[Finnishmanni]

That crash 5 evil academy game would have been amazing.

[apotato]

Activision:
A bigger sequel to crash 4 featuring spyro the dragon ❌
A team based seasonal multiplayer crash game ✅

[Armm]

It's insane how videogames aren't made to please players, they're made to please petty CEOs who reject everything they don't see selling 20 million in a day...

[portalpiggy]

this video broke my heart... having one of my friends working at TFB for so long, hearing her tell me stories of all the amazing work she and the team did, hearing dev stories... seeing how willing she was to talk about her love of crash and spyro... then seeing her get shoved into the overwatch machine and fired in 2024. it is so upsetting to hear, but this is just what the games industry is like nowadays. this was an incredible video Liam, thank you for telling TFB's story.

[WyrdKnight]

All this has taught me is 'never work for Activision'

[MilkshakeSkunkette]

the modern gaming industry is honestly just the most depressing state i feel like gamings ever been in.
its no longer about telling an amazing story, fine tuning addictive, fun game play.
its about battle passes, micro transactions, and body-bagging the developers to save as much money as possible on the way out :/

[auggie]

It’s a tragedy how Toys For Bob were treated. They deserved so much better. I wish nothing but the best for them as independent devs, and I hope they’re able to achieve everything they hoped they could while they were chained to ActiBlizz

[Maciej]

Honestly the concept of Crash game going into his villains psyche sounds like a great idea for a sequel, while the crossover with Spyro would probably work as a spin-off. Honestly I really like those and it's a shame we might not see those realise ever.

[StarMechV]

Wow even the prototype of Team Rumble sounded more diverse and robust. It provably would have been more appealing if they would have been allowed to go with this idea

[misterkyler]

I always find it funny Activisions excuse for not wanting a new IP or Crash games is that its "too risky"

Like yall don't have millions from CoD skins and Battlepasses

[lb]

At least the studio can live on without the strings from Activision.

[Gugamsos]

34:54 After having listened to about 10 minutes of ambitious ideas, beautiful concept art, and even a test demo, hearing this felt like a bullet to the chest.

[chaddwickfincher]

A crash/spyro crossover platformer game would be pretty cool.

[jonaskristiansen]

It's genuinely depressing seeing how badly the employees were treated. Being let go and receiving that information through a news outlet and not from your boss. Such a travesty. The Spyro remake trilogy and Crash 4 were amazing. The games ooze, passion and talent. I hope whatever project comes next that the devs never lose that creative spark and continue to deliver passion projects like those I mentioned. The industry as a whole is in dire need of more passion projects seeing the light of day.

[quietrioter]

What this has taught me: i hate Activision

[TheMrLeoniasty]

So basically, we could of had Crash 5 and the ultimate Spyro crossover, and also a very good chance of getting a Spyro 4 maybe opening the gates for a 3D platformer rebirth sparking maybe a Rayman 2 remake or a Rayman 4?

But Activision said "yeah no, we don't want games that sell well and are adored by the community. We want to make milions of dollars on microtransactions and live service games. Oh and 30 people amazing artists from your company are fired."