As part of Kinda Funny’s deep dive interview podcast earlier this week, Spyro: A Realm Beyond developer Toys for Bob spoke about its vision for Spyro, how it is handling gameplay mechanics for the new installment, and the development history for A Realm Beyond since finishing work on Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time. On hand were studio head Paul Yan, and associate creative director Lou Studdert to give insight into why this new iteration of Spyro will be special for longtime fans.
While I don’t mind hearing about specific gameplay tweaks, I’m much more interested in the broader goal that Toys for Bob is shooting for with this game. Starting off, development on the new Spyro has been happening for a little over two years now. The team is very confident it will hit a Spring 2027 release, though anything could happen in this industry. The ideal development time, according to Yan and Studdert, is around two to three years, though that has to do with the scope of the game rather than rushing things out the door. Coincidentally, A Realm Beyond had moments where its ideas grew beyond the initial concept, so cuts were made to keep it on track.
Roughly a decade ago when development started on Crash Bandicoot 4, Toys for Bob wanted to work on a new Spyro instead. It was assigned Crash 4 by Activision Blizzard, which was looking to capitalize on the recent success of the Crash N-Sane Trilogy. Before going independent, Toys for Bob was put on support duty for Overwatch 2 and Call of Duty: Warzone. When Activision Blizzard was acquired by Microsoft, that is what pushed Toys for Bob to go fully independent, alongside a pitch to Xbox for a new Spyro game (which became A Realm Beyond).
Why Spyro? For one, both Yan and Studdert state that they enjoy working with established characters because those franchises come with pre-existing audiences. They also believe that Spyro made the most business sense, what with the sales history of past games being so strong. There’s also the current resurgence of 3D platformers happening in the indie space, such as with games like A Hat in Time and Yooka-Laylee. The general audience seemingly wants to return to the late ’90s.
There’s a ton of great information contained within the review, including specific tweaks done to mechanics and design. You can watch the full interview to hear it all.
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
