Announced alongside the brilliant-looking Gears of War: E-Day and the retcon-happy Halo: Campaign Evolved prequel missions, Toys for Bob’s new Spyro: A Realm Reborn injected some much-needed joy into the Xbox Games Showcase.
The first new Spyro game since 2008’s Dawn of the Dragon, A Realm Beyond is built on joy. Launching in Spring 2027, the brand-new adventure hopes that this will be “the first of many” Spyro games to come. However, this push into the joy of the purple dragon’s mystical world comes after possibly the most depressing stint the developer has ever had… working on Call of Duty.
After the release of Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, Toys for Bob were another studio pushed into the CoD mines. “At the company level, we had a mandate to support some of the bigger blockbuster IPs,” studio head Paul Yan told GamesIndustry. “We shifted focus to support titles like Warzone, Overwatch 2, and Modern Warfare, just to name a few.”
While the studio took pride in its work on those games, they simply weren’t the games that Toys for Bob was created to make. Toys for Bob is one of the oldest game studios around, “we just celebrated our 37-year anniversary this past April”, but that stint on CoD meant the studio was “moving away from the types of games that are near and dear to out hearts”.
Following Xbox’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard, Toys for Bob managed to claim independence, although it continues to work alongside Xbox and Activision to use the Spyro IP. “What we’re attracted to as a team is working on games that are joyful experiences, that are optimistic, that are centred around colourful characters in handcrafted whimsical worlds, that are made for all ages,” Yan said. “That’s what we wanted to get back to.”
The studio head explained that Activision and Xbox are “very supportive” of the new structure. Spyro: A Realm Beyond associate creative director Lou Studdert explained that Activision’s “operational focus tends to be on different stings at different times”, and now that the gaming giant doesn’t own Toys for Bob, it’s easier to let them play with their toys.
Yan explained that Toys for Bob consists of around 50 workers, all of whom have experience working in AAA. With decades of experience, Spyro: A Realm Beyond is expanding outside of the remit of the original games with a renewed focus on exploration. “Movement and exploration and the fluidity of being able to tackle your environments” is at the core of the game, although brand-new full-flight gives players far more control over the iconic purple dragon.
While Toys for Bob hopes to make additional sequels in the future, the focus for now is on making Spyro: A Realm Beyond the best it can be. After working on CoD, the studio is adamant on its proposal to make games that bring joy and good vibes to players. “The world could use more positive, hopeful, optimistic games that inspire laughter and love,” he continued. “That’s what we want to make. That’s the mission of our studio.”
Spryo: A Realm Beyond is coming Spring 2027 to Xbox Series, PC, PS5, and Nintendo Switch 2.
