Crash Bandicoot 5: Development Halted

Crash Bandicoot 5 was reportedly shelved, hints Toys For Bob’s former concept artist. Read on to learn more about what the game’s former developer, Nicholas Kole, had to say!

Crash Bandicoot 5 Reportedly Shelved‘Project Dragon’ Also Scrapped

The world could have seen a Crash Bandicoot 5, suggested former Toys For Bob concept artist Nicholas Kole in an X (Twitter) post dated July 12th. The topic of the tweet was about Kole’s other canceled project called "Project Dragon" which has led to users such as Sonic comic writer Daniel Barnes speculating that it was Spyro based on its title. Kole quickly clarified that it wasn’t Spyro and that it was a completely new IP with Phoenix Labs, but also took the opportunity to mention Crash as well, as it may have met the same fate as Project Dragon.

"It is not Spyro, but someday folks will hear about the Crash 5 that never was and it’s gonna break hearts," he commented.

Fans in the replies did not take the news well just as Kole predicted, with most responding with dismay and shock with tweets such as "Hearing any sort of cancelled project news breaks my heart, but hearing about a cancelled Crash in particular stings harder than anything.."

Crash developer Toys For Bob separated from Activision Blizzard earlier this year to become an independent studio, while Activision Blizzard was purchased by tech giant Microsoft. However, Toys For Bob is collaborating with Microsoft Xbox for the publication of their first independent game, and there are no specific details regarding its nature as of this writing.

The last major Crash Bandicoot title released was Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time in 2020, which sold over five million copies. It was followed by the endless mobile runner Crash Bandicoot: On the Run! in 2021 and online multiplayer Crash Team Rumble in 2023, with the latter concluding its live service last March with a final content update. However, the game remains playable on current-generation consoles.

Now that Toys For Bob enjoys greater autonomy as an independent game studio, only time will reveal if Crash 5 will be produced, and hopefully, avid fans will not endure a prolonged wait.