One of the casualties of Microsoft's mass layoffs in January that saw 1900 employees cut from Activision Blizzard and Xbox divisions, long-time game programming studio Toys For Bob saw 89 of its staff sent home and its offices in Novato closed down in January. On February 29th, the Spyro Reignited Trilogy developer announced on their site they will spin off from their former parent company to become an independent studio. Salvaging their talent, the team also noted that they will likely be arranging a partnership with Microsoft and Activision as they re-establish themselves.

"We’re thrilled to announce that Toys for Bob is spinning off as an independent game development studio!", the press release reads. "With the same enthusiasm and passion, we believe that now is the time to take the studio and our future games to the next level. This opportunity allows us to return to our roots of being a small and nimble studio.

To make this news even more exciting, we’re exploring a possible partnership between our new studio and Microsoft. And while we’re in the early days of developing our next new game and a ways away from making any announcements, our team is excited to develop new stories, new characters, and new gameplay experiences.

Our friends at Activision and Microsoft have been extremely supportive of our new direction and we’re confident that we will continue to work closely together as part of our future.  

So, keep your horns on and your eyes out for more news. Thank you to our community of players for always supporting us through our journey. We can't wait to share updates on our new adventure as an indie studio"  

Some changes underway... https://t.co/JACzLFiAho pic.twitter.com/95cZPfVxJ2

— Toys For Bob (@ToysForBob) February 29, 2024

Getting their start in 1989, Toys for Bob saw considerable growth and notoriety for their works with Crystal Dynamics on games like the 2.5D platformer Pandemonium! and The Horde. Parting ways with Eidos Interactive and Crystal Dynamics in 2002, they were acquired by Activision the same year, working on licensed games like Madagascar and Disney properties. The creative minds behind the Skylanders series, which became a massive hit in the later half of the 2000's. Under Activision Blizzard, they've aided in the development and engineering of the Call of Duty series, along with Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time.