Spyro Reignited Trilogy is out now on PS4 and Xbox One, and countless people are enjoying the excellent remakes of the three classic PS1 titles. The collection, however, is lacking in one very basic yet significant area- it doesn’t have subtitles. While that’s not something that affects actual gameplay itself in any way, and it’s entirely possible that you might prefer to play without subtitles, it’s still a pretty confusing exclusion (one that was made in last year’s Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy as well).
Not only do people who want to play with subtitles not have the option to do so right now, it’s also a pretty notable omission for players that might be hearing impaired. So why have developers Toys for Bob not included subtitles in their game? Gamepitt recently reached out to Activision for a comment, who told them in a statement that though there are no industry-wide standards for including subtitles in games, they’re going to take any feedback they receive into considering and accordingly take steps going forward.
“When Toys For Bob set out to make an awesome game collection, there were certain decisions that needed to be made throughout the process,” an Activision spokesperson said. “The team remained committed to keep the integrity and legacy of Spyro that fans remembered intact. The game was built from the ground up using a new engine for the team (Unreal 4), and was localized in languages that had not previously been attempted by the studio. While there’s no industry standard for subtitles, the studio and Activision care about the fans’ experience especially with respect to accessibility for people with different abilities, and will evaluate going forward.”
Spyro Reignited Trilogy has been performing predictably well since it launched, topping the UK physical sales charts in its opening week. As it should- it’s an excellent reimagining of the classic PS1 titles.