This generation saw the return of two old school PlayStation icons: Spyro the Dragon and Crash Bandicoot. Once thought lost to the ravages of time, Activision revived both in epic fashion, with success all around. And it looks like the company has taken notice, promising more revisiting of the classic franchises, as well possibly something a little newer.
In the financial quarter report, company President Robert Kostich confirmed the success of the remasters, with Crash N.Sane Trilogy selling over 10 million copies as an example. He said that more remasters are coming, and that with this success it means they could be looking at fresh ideas for these IPs going forward.
“When you look at our IP library, we think there’s a lot of IP in there that fans are going to want to experience again, so on that one, I’d say stay tuned for some future announcements.
“But just beyond pure remasters,” Kostich continued, “there are also a lot of opportunities now to innovate and think about totally new content within these IPs, so as we think about it, there’s a lot of growth opportunities for the business over time within Activision based on our library of IP and frankly more broadly across the company which collectively has a tonne of great IP.”
While both Crash and Spyro have many games past the remastered titles we’ve gotten, they aren’t quite as revered. But with the right work and polish, they could craft something there. What’s really interesting is the idea of getting some new titles. While the remasters have been closer to remakes for my money, they still are very much built on the old school titles. Can Activision and their partners actually create something to rival those in the modern era? Let’s keep fingers crossed they can.