Activision canceled Crash Bandicoot 5, which was a Spyro crossover

A new documentary about former Activision developer Toys for Bob revealed that a Crash Bandicoot 5 starring Spyro the Dragon was canceled by Activision.

Crash Bandicoot 5: The Cancelled Spyro Crossover & The Fall of Crash Team Rumble

The video, which Liam Robertson produced for Did You Know Gaming?, begins with a recap of the studio’s history through Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time. One of the most notable revelations from this part of the video is that Crash Bandicoot 4 started development as an asymmetrical multiplayer game codenamed Lava and referred to as Wumpa League. After creating some single-player tutorial levels for Wumpa League, the team pivoted to creating a single-player adventure. It developed Crash Bandicoot 4 in just 18 months, working on Wumpa League on and off alongside it.

Toys for Bob considered releasing Wumpa League around a year after the launch of Crash Bandicoot 4 as a free update for that game with microtransactions. In 2020, Toys for Bob also created a pitch for a Crash Bandicoot 5 that would’ve been a direct sequel to It’s About Time, reintroduced elements from Crash Twinsanity like the Academy of Evil, and featured Uka Uka as the main villain. It also would’ve taken inspiration from Psychonauts, with Crash entering the minds of villains like Neo Cortex, Pinstripe, and Tiny Tiger for some of its levels.

Most importantly, it would’ve crossed over with Spyro the Dragon. Uka Uka would use a portal to travel to Spyro’s universe and corrupt some of its Dragon Elders. Crash and Coco would eventually make their way over to this dimension, befriend Spyro, and work together to stop Uka Uka. Sadly, this AAA Crash and Spyro 3D platforming crossover wouldn’t make it past pre-production becauseCrash Bandicoot 4 did not meet Activision’s high sales targets, as the publisher was hoping for sales comparable to Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy.

Crash Bandicoot 5 was canceled in November 2020. Around the same time, production on the Wumpa League version