Crash Bandicoot 5 was reportedly in development as a Spyro crossover, but was cancelled

According to an in-depth report from Did You Know Gaming (full video here), Toys for Bob was once developing Crash Bandicoot 5 which would have been a crossover game with Spyro the Dragon. However, the project was ultimately cancelled.

The hook behind Crash Bandicoot 5, aside from Crash Twinsanity’s Academy of Evil making a comeback as the main setting, involved the return of Uka Uka, who previously appeared in Crash Bandicoot: Warped and was in Crash Bandicoot 4’s secret ending. Uka Uka would have gained access to an interdimensional portal in which he would travel to Spyro’s universe, use his magic on the Dragon Elders, and send that world into chaos while also threatening Crash’s home. Crash Bandicoot 5 was considered to be slightly darker compared to the previous title – in terms of both visuals and storytelling – with a stronger focus on the series’ lore.

Crash and Coco would then go on an adventure to and from Spyro’s world in hopes of stopping Uka Uka. They would naturally meet Spyro himself and restore the Dragon Elders.

Toys for Bob was considering various ideas for the Crash Bandicoot 5 x Spyro the Dragon crossover at the time. These included the return of Realms from the original Spyro impacted by Uka Uka’s sorcery, collecting dragon feathers, bringing back some legacy Spyro characters like Gnorcs, and more gender-swapped alternate universe characters similar to N. Tropy in Crash Bandicoot 4.

Aside from Crash and Spyro, others playable characters such as Nina, Cortex, and Coco being considered as well. Crash and Spyro may have been playable separately, but there was also discussion around having them be used together. One idea even involved Crash riding on Spyro’s back.

Toys for Bob only worked on Crash Bandicoot 5 for around three to four months. The team largely focused on concept art and some early demo environments at that time. This was done between summer and November 2020, all in pre-production. Unfortunately, Activision then cancelled Crash Bandicoot 5 – in part due to Crash Bandicoot 4 not meeting the company’s lofty sales expectations and moving away from big-budget single-player games.

Would you have liked to see this game become a reality? Let us know in the comments.