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What you need to know
- Toys for Bob, one of the Activision Blizzard studios, owned by Microsoft, will become independent.
- Best known for working on games like Spyro Reignited Trilogy, the team has primarily worked in a support role on Call of Duty over the past few years.
- While the team is going independent, the company is exploring a partnership with Microsoft.
Another studio is separating from its parent company.
Microsoft’s Activision studio Toys for Bob, best known for working on games like Spyro Reignited Trilogy and providing support on the Call of Duty franchise, is breaking off as an independent studio, as shared by studio management on Thursday.
“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 agile studio,” writes the creative director. Paul Yan and studio head Avery Lodato.
“To make this news even more exciting, we are exploring a possible partnership between our new studio and Microsoft. And although we are in the early days of development of our next new game and are far from making any announcements, our team is excited to develop new stories, new characters and new gaming experiences.”
As layoffs continue, some studios go independent
The start of 2024 has been brutal for gaming industry workers, with several thousand laid off just two months into the year, including across Microsoft, which was primarily focused on Activision Blizzard, Sony-owned PlayStation, Electronic Arts and many further. .
Amid the layoffs, a handful of companies now appear to become independent or find private ownership. Earlier on Thursday, a report surfaced that Embracer Group was selling Saber Interactive to private investors in a deal worth $500 million.
Analysis: A surprising turn of events, but I’m hopeful for the future
I’m definitely surprised to see Toys for Bob break off on their own at this point, but this is certainly a much preferable alternative to the studio closing or continuing to work only on Call of Duty titles.
I was hoping that after Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard, the team would be working on more Crash and Spyro games. Maybe that will continue to happen in the future, or maybe the partnership with Microsoft will be something entirely new. Regardless, I’m hopeful for the future of this newly independent team.