Earlier this year developer Toys for Bob made a surprising move by leaving Activision-Blizzard and parent company Microsoft to become independent. As part of their exit, the company also announced that they were exploring a partnership between themselves and Microsoft.
Now, it seems like the team might be hinting at their next project. Their website has been updated to display nothing but a black background and their logo, except the logo is now purple.
Some outlets have reported this as being a reference to Crash Bandicoot because of the tiki mask design. However, Toys for Bob have been using the tiki mask as their logo since going independent. You can see this for yourself by using the Way Back Machine.
Therefore, it would seem that the colour change is the important factor here, as is changing the website to display nothing but the logo. All of the website’s sub-domains have also been taken down, just leaving the main address.
Purple, of course, is colour associated with Spyro the Dragon. Toys for Bob previously developed the excellent Spyro the Dragon Reignited Trilogy, and Microsoft now owns the Spyro IP. Many people have speculated that Toys for Bob’s “partnership” with Microsoft might be a deal to exploit Activision Blizzard’s back catalogue of IP, since Toys for Bob also worked on Crash Bandicoot.
This also lines up with a report I published earlier this year in which a well-known Youtuber claimed that a new Spyro game is in development at Toys for Bob after talking to multiple sources
However, it should be noted that when they announced their newfound independence, Toys for Bob also said that that “…we’re in the early days of developing our next new game and a ways away from making any announcements”
That statement was made in late February. A few months is a long time in the world of business, but would they really be ready to announce their new game if they only just said it was in the early days of developement?
Still, it’s hard to view this weird logo change as anything but a tease for something, and Xbox’s summer showcase in June sure would be the perfect time to announce the return of the little purple dragon. Toys for Bob’s independence and Microsoft’s growing willingness to publish its games and IP on other platforms could also mean any new Spyro game could pop up on PlayStation and Switch, alongside Xbox.
