Activision cancelled Crash Bandicoot 5 to make room for more online live service games, claims report

rockpapershotgun.com:

I find it bizarre that people still really like Crash Bandicoot games in this, the year 2024, two decades after the decline of the platform mascot warz. I have ample nostalgia for the old marsupial myself, with his second Naughty Dog-developed outing being a particular obsession, but come now, we're all about deckbuilders, soulsliking and battle royale nowadays, right?

Still, I'll admit to a twinge of disappointment after reading that a Crash Bandicoot 5 was once in development at Crash 4: It's About Time developers Toys For Bob, and might have featured an interdimensional team-up with one of Crash's old rivals. No, not Mario.

The rumour in question has been mongered by video game historian Liam Robertson (via EG), who claims that Crash 5 would have been another single player 3D platformer and a direct sequel to Crash 4, which released in 2020. Robertson has also gotten hold of some alleged artworks and story concepts. One proposal envisaged a game set in a school for villainous kids, featuring returning villains such as Dr Cortex. Another would have seen Crash join forces with Mr Spyro of the Dragon family - another darling of the mascot era and patient zero for Toys For Bob's currently on-hiatus Skylanders toys-to-life series.

But then along came the axemen of Activision, with their brutal talk of Crash 4 'not meeting sales expectations' and online live service games being 'all of the rage'. Crash 5 was apparently cancelled in the very early days of development to make room for another live service-me-do. Team members were moved to other projects such as Crash Team Rumble, released last year, which didn't exactly set the world alight.

Toys For Bob washed their hands of Activision and went independent earlier this year, following a round of layoffs. Back in March, studio heads Paul Yan and Avery Lodato declared that they were "in the early days of developing our next new game and a ways away from making any announcements". I wonder if any of those abandoned