Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time developer Toys for Bob appears to have been shuffled to help work on Call of Duty: Warzone as reports circle of multiple layoffs at the studio.
The developer announced last night they were “proud” to be supporting the Call of Duty: Warzone development team for the recently-released Season Three, and hinted they “looked forward to more to come” in an official tweet, though it’s not quite clear at the time of writing if the move is permanent.
However, it transpires as per GamesIndustry.biz that this announcement does come following the departure of many of the developers at the studio who worked on Crash Bandicoot 4 and previous title Spyro: Reignited Trilogy, with forner character designer Nicholas Kole retweeting the announcement and calling it “the end of an era.”
In a subsequent follow up response to another user, Kole said that “everyone I interfaced with and worked along was let go” though made it clear it wasn’t a “total shuttering” of the studio. It should also be noted Kole himself departed back in January.
It isn’t the first time Activision have shuffled around studios in recent months, with the company announcing it had merged Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 developer Vicarious Visions into Blizzard to support their teams back in January.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time released back in October of last year, before getting a next-generation upgrade in March of this one. Season Three of Call of Duty: Warzone meanwhile gave the battle royale shooter’s Verdansk map a very 80’s makeover.
Toys for Bob is proud to support development for Season 3 of Call of Duty #Warzone, and look forward to more to come. #LETSGO dev squads! #Verdansk84 pic.twitter.com/ERmFSWeaIk
— Toys For Bob (@ToysForBob) April 29, 2021
