Crash Bandicoot and Spyro developer Toys for Bob has undergone layoffs significant enough for Microsoft to shutter its physical office. The Skylanders creator has lost 86 staff members, and has since gone remote. Although Toys for Bob has survived the cuts, its future seems uncertain.
Toys for Bob’s Crash Bandicoot and Spyro games were well received
As reported by San Francisco Chronicle, Toys for Bob isn’t the only studio that lost a significant chunk of its workforce. Call of Duty developer Sledgehammer Games shed 76 positions. Both studios’ layoffs are part of the 1,900 redundancies that Microsoft recently announced following its acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
It has been reported that Sledgehammer Games has also scaled down its physical operations, with its remaining workforce going remote for now.
Toys for Bob was founded in 1989 and was owned by Crystal Dynamics between 1993 and 2000. Activision purchased the studio in 2005 following which it created the Skylanders series. Toys for Bob’s Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Spyro Reignited Trilogy, and Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time all earned praise. However, Activision later turned the developer into a Call of Duty support studio, starting with 2021’s Warzone.
Toys for Bob’s last Crash outing, Crash Team Rumble, didn’t have the same success as its predecessors.
