Microsoft has confirmed its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard for nearly $70 billion, which will in turn bring the massive company and its studios under the Xbox umbrella. The finer details of what this deal will mean for the gaming industry at large have yet to be revealed. For example, it’s unclear if theCall of Dutygamesand other Activision titles will become Xbox console exclusives, but regardless, Xbox will have control over some of the world’s biggest franchises.
Not only will theMicrosoft Activision acquisitiongive Xbox control over franchises likeCall of Duty,Diablo,Overwatch, andWarcraft, but it will also give it control over two franchises that were once married to the PlayStation brand. While it’s been decades since they were PlayStation exclusives, there’s no denying thatCrash BandicootandSpyro the Dragonare forever linked to the PS1, and so it’s notable that they will soon be Xbox-owned.
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The originalCrash Bandicoottrilogy was developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony, and the same holds true forCrash Team Racingas well. The party gameCrash Bashhad a different developer, but it was also published by Sony, making all the games PlayStation 1 exclusives in the process. Sony even went as far as to pushCrash Bandicootas the PS1’s mascot for a time, positioning the character as a rival to Nintendo’s Mario and Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog.
However, Sony didn’t outright own the rights to theCrash Bandicootgames. Universal Interactive did, with theCrash Bandicootgames only being PlayStation exclusives through a deal that was forged between the two companies. Once that deal was up, Universal Interactive decided to makeCrash Bandicootmulti-platform, delivering the once-PlayStation exclusive franchise to competing consoles.
Universal Interactive would eventually merge with Vivendi, which would then merge with Activision, ultimately bringing theCrash Bandicootfranchise under the Activision umbrella. And the same story pretty much goes forSpyro the Dragonas well. TheoriginalSpyro the Dragontrilogy was developed by Insomniac Gamesand published by Sony, though Universal Interactive owned the rights to the franchise. After theSpyrotrilogy released as PS1 exclusive games, Universal started releasing futureSpyrogames on other platforms.
And just like withCrash Bandicoot,Spyro the Dragonwound up an Activision-owned franchise due to the merger between Universal and Vivendi, which was then followed by the merger between Activision and Vivendi. But despite Activision’s resources and proven capability of putting out high-quality games, theCrash BandicootandSpyro the Dragonfranchises floundered under its watch. The once critically-acclaimed franchises started to earn middle of the road review scores, and whileSpyro’s life was artificially extended by the character’s association with thetoys to lifeSkylandersseries, both became dormant.
Activision went seven years without releasing a newCrash Bandicootgame before finallyreleasingCrash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogyas a timed-PlayStation exclusive. Developed by Vicarious Visions,Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogyremastered the originalCrash Bandicootgames with eye-popping graphics and kicked off a resurgence for the franchise. It was followed byCrash Team Racing Nitro-Fueledin 2019, developed by Beenox, andCrash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Timein 2020, developed by Toys for Bob.
Fans had to wait even longer to get their hands on a newSpyro the Dragongame, as there was 10 years between the release ofThe Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragonin 2008 andSpyro Reignited Trilogyin 2018 (not counting theSkylandersgames, of course). Similar toCrash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy,Spyro Reignited Trilogyremastered the originalSpyro the Dragontrilogy of games, vastly improving the graphics and modernizing the experience.
Despite the success developers Vicarious Visions, Beenox, and Toys for Bob have had with bringing these classic platformer franchises back to life, Activision seemingly decided to put them on the shelf. Beenox and Toys for Bob arenow working on theCall of Dutyfranchise, serving as support studios for developers like Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games, and Treyarch. Vicarious Visions, meanwhile, has been moved from the Activision wing of the company to the Blizzard side, set to work on titles likeDiablo 2: Resurrectedand the like.
So even though theCrash BandicootandSpyro the Dragongames haven’t been PlayStation exclusives for decades, they were both once key to the brand, and are both still largely associated with it. But assuming Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard goes through, they will becomeXbox-owned, so it’s quite possible that any futureCrash BandicootorSpyro the Dragongames will be Xbox console exclusives and never see release on PlayStation at all.
One has to imagine that Microsoft would want to take advantage of the Activision Blizzard IP it’s acquired, and even though Activision itself didn’t seem interested in pursuing moreCrashandSpyrogames, maybe now fans will get new entries in these franchises. It may be strange to see them released asXbox exclusives, if that does indeed happen, but perhaps even hardcore PlayStation fans will agree that’s better than not getting any newCrash BandicootorSpyro the Dragontitles at all.
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