- Toys for Bob says Activision Blizzard didn’t push back on studio’s decision to become independent again
- Paul Yan, head of the studio, says: “Executives on both sides were very open to the idea. »
- Yan says process was ‘complex’ to follow while planning Spyro: A Realm Beyond
Spyro: A Realm Beyond Developer Toys for Bob said there was no “backlash” from Activision Blizzard when it chose to go independent, but that the process was “complex.”
In 2024, a year after the official acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft and almost 20 years after being bought by the latter, Toys for Bob announces its separation from its parent company and its return to its “roots” as an independent studio.
Now, during a press Q&A at Summer Game Fest 2026 while promoting Spyro: A Realm Beyondstudio head Paul Yan said the team encountered no resistance from Activision Blizzard or Microsoft and that “executives on both sides were very open to the idea.”
“It was just complex,” Yan said, “because we were talking about navigating a lot of things in a very short period of time, so the logistics and legalities of how you separate yourself from a business in this way has never been done before.”
“I’ve never done this before, so I’m asking for something that’s going to require a ton of coordination between a lot of teams, between two new organizations that don’t even know each other,” he added, referring to Microsoft’s acquisition of the company, “or, for the most part, they just got married.”
“In the meantime, we are also trying to find common ground for this match. [Spyro: A Realm Beyond]so we’re trying to make all of that happen at once. »
Yan said it was “the biggest challenge” overall, reiterating that no one was against Toys for Bob returning to independence, even though the process was something “we’ve never seen before.”
Associate creative director Lou Studdard added that it was difficult to navigate the process while “preserving the continuity of the team’s team experience” and ensuring it wasn’t “such a big culture shock for the studio.”
“It’s been a huge effort to make sure that about two years ago, and this happened when we really started, it was kind of like another day at the office in a good way, and that we were a continuous development team that knew how to work with each other and focus on our projects,” Studdard said.
Spyro: A Realm Beyond is Toys for Bob’s first game since becoming an independent studio again, and it will launch in spring 2027 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.
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