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.

In a recently published video, YouTube channel DidYouKnowGaming has claimed that following the release of Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, a small team within developer Toys for Bob started working on ideas for the series’ next mainline single-player instalment.

Allegedly, work was only done on the game for a handful of months, before Activision decided to shelve the project and instead refocusing the studio’s efforts on live service titles. It’s claimed that less-than-stellar sales for Crash 4 were also responsible for this decision. Official sales for the game have never been announced, though reports claimed earlier this year that it had sold over 5 million units.

The video further claims that one of the concepts that was proposed for Crash Bandicoot 5 would have seen Spyro the Dragon serving as the second main playable character in the game. Toys for Bob previously developed 2018’s Spyro Reignited Trilogy, and this alleged pitch would have seen the character’s world colliding with Crash’s, with the two teaming up to fight against an interdimensional threat.

Other ideas in those early stages of pre-production also included a school setting for young villains, the return of antagonists from past instalments, and more. Concept art for the cancelled project is also shown in the video. You can view it in full below. 

Toys for Bob separated from Activision and new parent company Microsoft this year, but though the studio has gone independent, it was confirmed in May that Xbox would still serve as the publisher for its next game. Reports have claimed that the game in question is Spyro 4, which has allegedly only entered active development in January.

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

Over on the Exputer forums, prominent leaker eXtas1s has claimed that Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy will be releasing for Game Pass sometime in August, though it’s unknown if it will be playable via Xbox Cloud Gaming as well. Interestingly enough, the same has been corroborated by Windows Central as well.

Meanwhile, the leaker claims that the trilogy of Crash remakes will be joined by fellow platforming remake trilogy Spyro Reignited Trilogy, as well as beloved remake duology Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2. It’s unknown, however, whether they will also release for the service in August.

The leaker goes on to say that they currently have no information on when we can expect Call of Duty games to begin being added to the Game Pass catalog. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will, of course, launch day 1 for the service this October, but it remains to be seen how long we’ll be waiting for prior instalments in the series to follow suit.

Toys for Bob has announced that it has partnered with Xbox. The two have entered into an agreement that will see the former’s next game being published by the latter. Toys for Bob says, however, that the project is “still in very early development”, which means it’ll be a while before more information is shared.

Nonetheless, we may have an idea of what exactly is that Toys for Bob is working on, with recent reports claiming that the studio is developing Spyro 4, a project that it has been working on since January. Read more on that through here.

We’re excited to announce that we’ll be partnering with @Xbox to publish our next new game. We’re still very early in development, so you might not hear from us for a bit – but know that we’re working hard on an experience we’re so sooo inspired about! Can’t wait to share more 💜 pic.twitter.com/6EqrQbabpv

— Toys For Bob (@ToysForBob) May 31, 2024