Toys for Bob, which is a development studio you may know for the Spyro Reignited Trilogy and Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, has indicated a major interest in working on a new Banjo-Kazooie game with Team Xbox.
In an interview with Canadian Guy Eh on YouTube, Paul Yan (co-studio head and creative director at Toys for Bob) mentioned that "the honey bear" came first to mind when thinking of existing IP that he'd love for his team to tackle:
One company we'd like to work with is one we're already working with — Team Xbox! They've been a great partner and they also have a very interesting roster of characters that Toys for Bob could have a lot of fun with. The honey bear is the first one that comes to mind — I think we can all agree Banjo's been hibernating long enough, right?
Over the years, it's been suggested that Xbox has struggled to find the right development team for a new Banjo-Kazooie project, but it certainly feels like Toys for Bob would be a good fit, so who knows what could come of this. Back in late 2023, Xbox boss Phil Spencer told fans he understood how much they wanted a new Banjo game.
Toys for Bob is a bit busy with another Xbox project at the moment though. After the studio left Activision and became independent last year, it quickly entered into a partnership for Xbox to publish its next title, and apparently the result is a "big and ambitious" game that "pushes our craft to new heights".
I will say that we're very much in the thick of development. The team is very thrilled about how the experience is shaping up.
The company doesn't want to divulge much right now, but it's been rumoured in the past that it might be some kind of Spyro The Dragon sequel:
Anyway, that's what's going on with Toys for Bob right now! Would you like to see this studio tackle Banjo-Kazooie after all these years? Excited for their mysterious Xbox project that's in the works? Tell us in the comments below.
[source youtube.com, via windowscentral.com]
Comments 15
Forget banjo. Make a star control game. I can’t believe all the IPs Microsoft is sitting on. Toys for Bob made incredible games in the 80s and 90s. Star control 2 was amazing.
But I’m not sure the original founders are there anymore.
After the success of Astro Bot I really want Xbox to realise the love for family games and platformers. They need a big IP to scratch the platforming itch.
Banjo is lame, with horribly ugly characters and world design and it always felt like cheating playing a sequel on Xbox. How about back to the psuedo original Xbox mascot and remake/sequel Metal Arms? It sold best on the original Xbox and was used in all the ads back when the system dropped. Great fun too and deserved a sequel.
Toys for Bob do great work with older games this is good news!
I would of been interested in a sequel about 17 years ago, but rare decided to make the awful nuts and bolts instead 👎🏻.
Bring back Voodoo Vince or Blinx or heck even Malice. So many better and originally Xbox IPs than riding someone else's creation and honestly successes.
I wouldn't mind it. I think a collection similar to the one they gave Crash and Spyro would do this series good.
@Ken_Kaniff I would love if they remastered Banjo and Banjo 2 the same way they did Crash and Spyro.
Banjo-Threeie on Switch Successor would be a day 1 purchase from me
If they're not going to do a new Spyro entry, I would at least like to see them tackle something like Blinx or Kameo. Hell, I'd even be down for a Viva Pinata game, whether it be another garden simulator or a story-driven game set in the VP universe. Both could be interesting.
@Brigurugi I loved the game, but I don't know if I would consider Metal Arms to be even a Pseudo-Mascot for Xbox. It was pretty evenly spread across platforms by most metrics.
You've got some much more identifiable Xbox-exclusive platformers / family-friendly licenses that work in its stead, though. Blinx, Kameo, Gunstringer, Viva Pinata, Psychonauts, Ori, Lucky's Tale, Cuphead, Voodoo Vince...
These comments have some weird energy and I feel like I need to participate. Bring back Azurik he could have been bigger than Mario.
@jesse_dylan Then you may be very interested to hear about "Free Stars: Children of Infinity" by Pistol Shrimp Games which had the original Star Control developers recently develop a spiritual successor and is currently in development.
@Scummbuddy Yeah, I'm looking forward to it!
Blinx, Voodoo Vince, Malice (beat it in 2024, got Croc of course since), Scaler, Space Station Silicon Valley, and many more.
Or anything original but inspired but not TOO inspired, still enough of a direction to stand out not be all character/world and bland gameplay.
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