It’s been four years since the launch of Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, leading many series fans to wonder how much longer the wait for the next instalment is going to stretch on. It turns out, however, that the next Crash game may have been quietly cancelled behind the scenes, as per someone who may have worked on it in some form.
Nicholas Kole – an illustrator and character artist who worked with Toys for Bob on both Spyro Reignited Trilogy and Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time – recently took to Twitter to speak about Project Dragon, an unannounced title that had been in development at an unknown studio that Kole had been working on for three years, until its recent cancellation.
While discussing the same, in response to a fan wondering whether Project Dragon was a new Spyro title, Kole reassured that that wasn’t the case, but went on to mention “the Crash 5 that never was”, adding that it’s “gonna break hearts” if and when people were to find out about it.
Presumably, Crash Bandicoot 5 was in development at Toys for Bob, prior to being quietly cancelled. Kole clarified in subsequent tweets that Crash 5 and the Project Dragon he mentioned previously were two different projects at different studios.
2024 has been an eventful year for Toys for Bob. Under new parent company Microsoft, the studio was hit with significant layoffs in February, but soon afterward, it was announced that Toys for Bob had acquired itself from Activision and Microsoft and was set to go independent.
In spite of going independent, Toys for Bob’s next game is still going to be published by Microsoft, as officially announced in May. Reports have claimed that the title in question is Spyro 4, which has been in the works since January this year.
WELL. Our cancelled project of the last 3 years is officially, truly dead as of today (internal attempts to save it failed), and the embargo on the whole body of portfolio work has been lifted.
RIP Project Dragon. Brace yourselves for the largest ever art bomb of work I loved 👁️
— Nicholas Kole (@FromHappyRock) July 13, 2024
It is not Spyro, but some day folks will hear about the Crash 5 that never was and it’s gonna break hearts
— Nicholas Kole (@FromHappyRock) July 13, 2024
Yes, two totally separate cancelled projects at two different studios
— Nicholas Kole (@FromHappyRock) July 13, 2024
Project dragon is a totally different cancelled project from a different studio
— Nicholas Kole (@FromHappyRock) July 13, 2024
