Reports suggest Crash Bandicoot 5 was canceled due to Activision's shift towards live-service games. Let's delve into the details surrounding the cancellation and Activision's overall strategy.

Crash Bandicoot 5: A Casualty of the Live-Service Model

Crash Bandicoot 4's Performance and the Sequel's Fate

Toys for Bob, instrumental in the Crash Bandicoot series' revival, had begun conceptualizing Crash Bandicoot 5—a single-player 3D platformer directly following Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time.

Robertson's report details proposed story concepts and early development art. The game was set in a villainous children's school, featuring returning antagonists. Concept art even showed Spyro, another PlayStation icon revived by Toys for Bob, teaming up with Crash against an interdimensional threat. Robertson revealed, "Crash and Spyro were intended to be the two playable characters."

Former Toys for Bob concept artist Nicholas Kole hinted at the cancellation on X, which was later corroborated by Robertson's report. Activision's decision to cancel Crash Bandicoot 5 appears linked to both the shift towards live-service games and perceived underperformance of Crash Bandicoot 4.

Activision's Focus on Live Service and the Impact on Other Franchises

Activision's prioritization of live-service games impacted other franchises. Robertson also reports that a pitch for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4, a sequel to the successful Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 remake, was rejected. Vicarious Visions, the studio behind the remakes, was reassigned to Activision's core franchises like Call of Duty and Diablo.

Tony Hawk himself confirmed this in Robertson's report, stating that Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 was planned until Vicarious Visions' absorption into Activision. He explained, "That was the plan… We were doing 3 and 4, and then Vicarious got kind of absorbed… they didn’t really trust anyone the way they did Vicarious. So they took other pitches… and they didn’t like anything they heard, and then that was it."