Toys for Bob has discussed this before, but in an interview with GamesRadar, associate creative director Lou Studdert said the team is aiming for “a zen-like fluidity; we want chaining of moves and exploration – for you to really be interacting with the environment as this quadruped who is its own unique beast.” It’s all for the sake of enabling players to seamlessly transition between exploration on the ground and in the skies.

And it’s far from a gimmick. “Honing in on that feeling, that experience, has been our north star. We want to push the sense of wonder, adventure, and awe that this franchise uniquely delivers,” said Studdert.

But is there a danger of diverting too far from what made the original trilogy, which Toys for Bob remade to great success? Studdert points to the studio’s experience with Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time. “What we like to do when we start working on a new project, especially if it is an established IP, is to really hone in on what emotions it brings out.”

Studio head Paul Yan added, “That tension is so real, right? I’m proud of the team. They are thinking that through very thoughtfully, and listening to the community as we do. Because you have these two extremes: If you stick too much to nostalgia, then you basically just rehash what’s been done before; and on the other extreme, if you innovate too much, then all of a sudden players don’t recognize the series anymore.”

Thankfully, those who enjoyed the Reignited Trilogy should feel right at home with A Realm Beyond. “We learned a lot during the development of Reignited,” continued Yan. “We’ve carried a lot of those lessons forward into A Realm Beyond – and obviously they are very different projects; we aren’t recreating classics this time. But we’ve built up a confidence in our instincts for what feels tonally right for this character, and I can’t wait for fans to see the direction we’re taking the series in.”

Spyro: A Realm Beyond launches in 2027 for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2. For more details on how the flight mechanics work and how Toys for Bob is designing its worlds around the same, head here.

“Visually, we’ve made some subtle changes to suggest he’s grown since last we saw him – most notably, we’ve enhanced his wingspan so that he can be much more capable in flight,” explained Yan. “But this is absolutely the same Spyro you know and love, and that’s why we’re so thrilled to have Tom Kenny back to voice him! Tom’s performance delivers the plucky youthful courage that is such an important aspect of Spyro’s personality.”

As for just how capable Spyro will be in flight, Yan went on to reveal that, unlike previous games where he was only capable of gliding down from jumps or flying for short bursts, in Spyro: A Realm Beyond, Spyro is able to “take to the skies and own the airtime.”

“In Spyro: A Realm Beyond, Spyro will experience the freedom of true dragon flight,” said Yan. “He’s small, but mighty, so we had to do a lot of different experiments to explore how he could be both nimble and still be very physical when actively pushing his way through the air.”

Further in the interview, Yan also spoke about how the core design philosophy behind Spyro: A Realm Beyond revolves around giving players more options and freedom than any of the previous entries in the franchise have offered. The addition of full-fledged flight, he said, is a major addition to the series, and has led to the entire game being designed around the concept.

“For now, I can tell you that our biggest ambition in Spyro: A Realm Beyond is to give the player the freedom and fantasy of dragon flight – to be able to take the skies at a moment’s notice and make interesting and active decisions to flow through the spaces as you charge on the ground and now soar through the air,” he said. “This is such a significant addition to the game, and we’ve built a whole world around that promise.”

Spyro: A Realm Beyond was unveiled with a trailer over the weekend, giving us a look at the new title’s “strange and wonderous realm” where the dragon finds himself stranded. Along the way, the plucky hero will also have to deal with a new threat, referred to as Scavs, and to ultimately succeed, he will have to make new friends throughout his journey. Yan has confirmed that the title will feature an entirely new antagonist that will push the young dragon to “new emotional depths that will see Spyro grow as a hero”.

Spyro: A Realm Beyond is being developed for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2, and is slated for release in 2027.

A dark invading force that Toys for Bob is calling the Scavs is in his way, and it looks like the cheery dragon is going to have to work with some new friends in his effort to get them out of his way and save this new and visually resplendent world in the process. We’re quite curious to see what Spyro’s latest antagonists bring to the table, although that dark and sinister tower is all we get for now.

Thankfully, Spyro is as nimble as ever, and the flight mechanics are looking quite exciting as he boosts, weaves, and climbs his way through the new world. While further details about this one are scarce, we expect that to change over the coming months as it looks at a Spring 2027 release.

We quite enjoyed the announcement trailer, and it’s definitely worth a watch, even if it’s just to see Syro again as he soars through the skies looking as adorable as ever.

According to Corden’s report, State of Decay 3 has progressed far along in development that it is undergoing private alpha testing with parts of the franchise’s community. Along with this, he has also indicated that the title will be well polished, especially when compared to State of Decay 2.

“It’s almost certain we’ll see State of Decay 3 at the showcase too, given that it’s already in private alpha testing with a small subset of the community alongside some YouTubers,” wrote Corden. “And from what I’ve heard … it sounds like Undead Labs really, really nailed the ‘AAA’ feel that was absent from State of Decay 2.”

If you’ve been wondering why State of Decay 3 has been taking so long to develop, studio head Philip Holt revealed back in April that, back when the announcement trailer was released, the game only really existed as a Word document.

“So that trailer – there really wasn’t a game or game team when we were working on that trailer, like, it was so early,” he said in an interview. “You know, the game was in a Word document. It was really the very beginnings of software.”

The trailer itself was pre-rendered, created completely by Blur, and was meant to be a way for Undead Labs to show its vision for what it wanted State of Decay 3 to be.

As for other development teams part of XBOX Game Studios, Corden doesn’t believe that we will see much in the way of announcements from studios like Rare, Obsidian, Compulsion, Ninja Theory, or Double Fine. He did, however, note that Ninja Theory and Double Fine have been working on projects described as “more ambitious” than their recent outings – Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 and Kiln, respectively. However, these projects are still quite early in development, and it is unlikely that either studio will be unveiling it just yet.

Similarly, Blizzard is also expected to sit the June 7th showcase out, since it tends to unveil its major projects during its own yearly event – BlizzCon. Among these is expected to be a shooter based on the StarCraft universe, which rumors have indicated will be closer in visual style to StarCraft 2’s cinematics than Overwatch’s more stylized look.

As for other projects that might be unveiled at the showcase, Corden believes that we might finally get to see what Toys for Bob has been working on – a project that is rumored to be a brand-new entry in the Spyro franchise. InXile is also expected to show off more of its in-development game, Clockwork Revolution.

On the hardware side of things, while Project Helix is unlikely to make an appearance at the June 7th Xbox Showcase, recent leaks have indicated that Microsoft might be getting closer to finally unveiling its rumored third iteration of the Xbox Elite Controller.

Rumoured to have been titled Crash Bandicoot 5: The Academy of Evil, the concept art shows us plenty of things about the cancelled game, including new locations, levels, and characters. The entire game would have seemingly taken place in the titular Academy of Evil, with one piece of concept art being that of the hub level, which in turn could lead into other levels throughout the game. Judging by the concept art behind some of the new characters and their names, it looks like the title would have explored the past and family life of long-time Crash Bandicoot antagonist Dr. Neo Cortex.

Among the characters that were seemingly going to be present in the game are Mama Cortex, sister Cerebella Cortex, elder brother Hugh G Cortex, and nephew ID. Another new character with concept art is Madame Amberly. However, how she is related to the Cortex family isn’t quite clear from the art itself.

When it comes to some of the locations, we get to see art of Tiny Tiger’s mindscape castle, his lair, his mindscape tower, his treasure room, and the location where the Tiny Tiger boss fight would have taken place. Where Tiny Tiger’s levels would have seemingly taken on the aesthetics of a castle, Pinstripe, on the other hand, seemingly took cues from noir and mob films for his levels. The final piece of concept art indicates that Crash Bandicoot 5 would have involved a young Neo Cortex becoming friends in some way, as it has Crash and Neo trying to escape from a circus mindscape.

It is worth noting that, since this is presumed to be concept art for a game that was ultimately cancelled, all of this is worth taking with a grain of salt.

Rumours of Crash Bandicoot 5 being in development, and ultimately cancelled, came about last year. According to a report from July 2024, the game would have featured art work by illustrator and character artist Nicholas Kole, who took to social media to announce that their project was cancelled. The game was internally codenamed Project Dragon. However, when asked on social media about whether this was a new Spyro game, Kole responded by saying that it wasn’t.

There were also rumours that indicated that the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro universes may have collided in the cancelled game. According to a report from August 2024, there were internal concepts and pitches for Crash Bandicoot 5 to also feature Spyro the Dragon, who would be a second playable character.

For more details about the last Crash Bandicoot game–Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time–check out our review.

VGC’s Andy Robinson said on the site’s recent podcast that he “heard more recently that pitches are being listened to” for reviving the platformer. The last title was Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, which received mixed reactions for deviating away from what made the series so beloved.

That’s not all, as Robinson has heard of a few high-profile developers who allegedly want to head up a new project. “I heard constantly the name that comes up is Toys for Bob, who really wanna do one. Funnily enough, I heard Moon Studios, as well, was another one who’s really interested.” While the former is known for Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time!, the latter is renowned for the Ori series and is currently working on an action RPG, No Rest for the Wicked.

He noted that there’s “always talk about interest” for a cartoon or movie on Banjo-Kazooie. However, despite “talk for ages” about “outside interest,” Rare was seemingly more keen on making new properties. Gregg Mayles, who was directing the cancelled Everwild and worked at the studio for 35 years before leaving, was a huge proponent of looking forward.

Whether a new Banjo-Kazooie title is greenlit remains to be seen, especially given Microosft’s development troubles thus far. Stay tuned for updates, as always.

“There’s so many, and that’s one of the exciting possibilities of being independent,” said Yan when asked what IP the studio would like to work on since its independence from Activision.

“One company we’d like to work with is one we’re already working with; Team Xbox,” Yan continued. “They’ve been a great partner and they also have a very interesting roster of characters that Toys for Bob could have a lot of fun with. The honey bear is the first one that comes to mind. I think we all can agree Banjo’s been hibernating long enough, right?”

Toys for Bob announced its separation from Activision back in March. During its time with the publisher, the studio had worked on quite a few titles, including the Spyro Reignited Trilogy, Skylanders, and Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time. Shortly after achieving its independence, Toys for Bob announced that it had reached an agreement with Microsoft.

Microsoft confirmed that it would be publishing the first game by the studio back in May 2024. While details about this title haven’t yet been revealed, considering the studio’s pedigree, it will likely be a 3D platformer in the vein of classics from the Nintendo 64 era of gaming.

Toys for Bob has proven its pedigree when it comes to developing fun 3D platformers with Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time. Back in April 2024, a developer had revealed that more than 5 million copies of the game had been sold.

As for Banjo-Kazooie, composer of the original game, Grant Kirkhope, believes that we are unlikely to see a new game in the franchise any time soon. Through posts on social media, while Kirkhope said that he would love it if the franchise came back, he remains unsure about whether there is a market for that genre anymore.

“I’ve said it before … but .. I have zero hope for another Banjo game, plus all you die hard fans would instantly hate it and slag it off no matter how good it was, it never works,” wrote Kirkhope.

Xbox’s VP of games marketing Aaron Greenberg had previously also spoken about the Banjo-Kazooie franchise, mentioning that he understands how much the franchise means to its fans. The statement came after some dismissive remarks by Greenberg during an event where he said that “nobody cares” about Banjo-Kazooie anymore.

Currently, the only ways to play Banjo-Kazooie are on the Nintendo Switch thanks to its range of classic games available through witch Online, and Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S through Rare Replay, which included the classic platforming titles as part of the collection.

Banjo and Kazooie are also available as playable characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The duo was released as a single character that uses moves based on both Banjo’s and Kazooie’s abilities as part of Challenger Pack 3 back in 2019.

As per Insider Gaming, February will also see Microsoft continuing its rollout of Activision Blizzard titles for the Game Pass catalog. Allegedly joining the service’s library next month are acclaimed platformer Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time and Blizzard Entertainment’s MOBA Heroes of the Storm. The two will also be joined by Madden NFL 25, which will be available to Game Pass Ultimate subscribers via EA Play, it’s claimed.

Presumably, Microsoft will officially announce this in the final days of January. February will also see the Game Pass launch of Obsidian Entertainment’s fantasy action RPG Avowed for Xbox Series X/S and PC.

Developed by Toys for Bob and released in 2018, Spyro Reignited Trilogy contains remakes of the first three titles in the series – Spyro the Dragon, Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage and Spyro: Year of the Dragon. While the visuals are heavily revamped (and still look gorgeous), the layout and size of the levels remain similar to the original titles.

Certain gameplay elements like skill points and rolling have been standardized across all three titles. Spyro Reignited Trilogy has sold over ten million units since its launch and garnered extensive critical acclaim. Check out our review here. It’s also playable on PS4 and Nintendo Switch alongside Xbox One and PC. A new mainline title was rumored to be in development, but nothing has officially been announced.

After reiterating that Astro Bot’s launch sales are “good” and that, based on the sort of game that it is, it will likely continue to “sell over time”, Dring offered further tidbits to illustrate how well the game is doing. Apparently, Astro Bot’s launch week sales in the UK are higher than what other major platformers like Sonic Frontiers and Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time managed when they released. Both of those, unlike the PS5-exclusive Astro Bot, were multiplatform titles. 

How well Astro Bot will end up selling worldwide in the long run remains to be seen, but based on the start that it has got off to, the critical reception that it has enjoyed, and the strong word of mouth, one would assume that the game will do well enough for itself on the commercial front. 

Astro Bot is available on PS5. Read our review of the game through here.