Summary
As everyone knows,Crash Bandicootwas a PlayStation exclusive for many years under series creatorNaughty Dog. The early history of PlayStation and the early history of Crash Bandicoot are intertwined, making the platformer a historical part of PlayStation’s legacy.
It would appear the contribution of Crash Bandicoot to PlayStation has been recognised as Crash is set to make a cameo inAstro Bot, an upcoming adventure game based on PlayStation’s adorable mascot (thanks,VGC). This was revealed in aPlayStation Bloginterview with Team Asobi’s Nicolas Doucet.
Everyone Loves Crash
Interestingly, now that the intellectual property rights to Crash Bandicoot are owned by Activision, which is owned by Xbox, Crash Bandicoot is technically a first-party Xbox character. This isn’t the first time Crash has been loaned to PlayStation for a cameo, as he also appears inUncharted 4: A Thief’s End.
Crash didn’t quite fit the Astro Bot design, though, so Team Asobi had to compromise by making his head into a mask for a bot. “But with all of these characters, the eyes are paramount,” Doucet explained. “Sometimes LED eyes just didn’t work on certain characters because the original design relies too much on pupils being a certain size or colour for instance. So, for more cartoony VIPs like Crash Bandicoot or from Ape Escape, the Bots are wearing a mask to help bridge that problem.”
The future of the Crash series is unknown following the release of Crash Team Rumble last year. A recent report suggested that Crash Bandicoot 5 was previously in development at Toys for Bob, but was cancelled by Activision in favour of live-service titles (thanks,Eurogamer). After going independent from Activision, Toys for Bob is rumoured to be working on a Spyro game. Astro Bot releases September 6 for PlayStation 5.
Astro Bot
WHERE TO PLAY
The follow-up to the PS5 pack-in game Astro’s Playroom, Team Asobi’s Astro Bot is a fully fleshed-out 3D platformer with over 80 stages. Throughout the campaign, Astro will get access to more than 15 abilities.
