The days of mascot platformers seem to be long gone. Back in the generation of the original PlayStation and N64 games like Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, and Spyro flooded the market. While the heyday of the genre seemed to come to an end, fans of the Crash Bandicoot have been hoping for a new game in the main series for well over a decade now. Former Naughty Dog VP, Dave Baggett, provided some insight on why a Crash Bandicoot reboot has yet to gain traction.
Last month Baggett posted a response to the question “Why did they kill off the crash bandicoot series?” on Quora.com. He explains that the game started as a partnership with funding from Universal Interactive Studios, development from Naughty Dog, and publication through Sony. With so many studios involved, agreements were hard to come by. The disagreements between these companies halted the progress of any new Crash Bandicoot game. However, back in 2008 Activision acquired the rights to the franchise.
“I no longer have a dog in the fight, but it’s baffling to me that they’re letting the IP sit on the shelf,” Baggett posted. “A really good team could produce a reboot that would be incredibly popular with gamers who played the original series as kids. But that window of opportunity is closing fast.”
The future of the Crash Bandicoot series is in the hands of Activision. Fans speculated that a new game may still happen when Shawn Layden, Chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment, wore a Crash t-shirt while presenting in a press conference during PlayStation Experience last year. No substantial news of a reboot or sequel come from Sony or Activision since. Only time will tell what will happen to the beloved series.
What do you think the future of Crash Bandicoot is? Do you want to see Naughty Dog make another? Do you think he's destined to join Spyro in Skylanders? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
