Xbox Now Owns Legendary PlayStation Series Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon

Neither have been major PS series or mascots for literal decades.

Next news will be the MS buys Sony. I would cry xD

MS is an absolute embarrassment they should be ashamed

It won’t matter much. Look what they did with Banjo, previously a Nintendo mascot. A whole lotta nothing.

@AdamNovice This really needs to happen before its too late. Yet there are people saying Sony are doing the same thing with the likes of housemarque and bluepoint, when its a completely different situation.

If i never heard the name Phil Spencer again it would be too soon.

I still think there is a massive opportunity for Sony to rediscover their niche like in the PS1 days and become something truly special , as they need to adjust the balance of power somehow - because they wont have the financial power to compete with Microsoft.

In a few years time a similar article will be published with the heading

"xbox now owns everything"

I'm sure the Xbot acolytes will be having a field day online trolling Playstation owners...because they're all enjoying those Banjo reboots & remasters, right?!🙄 Crash better enjoy being kept in storage in Gamer Phil's attic!

Will Microsoft actually do something with the IPs? I mean, they own Rare, who owns Banjo and that IP has been dormant, outside of a Smash crossover, for literal years.

@AdamNovice 100% agree. Acquisitions like this are blocked by courts all the time due to anti-competition laws. Although I think the USA doesn’t have any, or are slightly leaner when it comes to such things. Which is ultimately why this will go ahead regardless!

These two are the only franchises from Acti-Blizz I'll miss on PlayStation. Spyro was the first game I ever played back on the PS1.

What a weird time we live in.

I don't play any of Activision's game anyway, they just don't appeal to me, but this trend towards monopolising all of the cross-platform games in the industry is really disturbing. I also don't understand how Phil Spencer can claim Playstation making their own exclusives is anti-consumer, only for the company to make acquisitions like this. Really not a fan of this, and it can only be bad for the industry

They'll skip Playstation until Sony relents and allows Game Pass Streaming on their hardware. That may well be when Sony has a similar service and want that on Xbox.

If you 'want' the best First Party console experience, you'll still need a PS/Xbox as they will allow you to download and play first party games where as the other system will only allow streaming, perhaps limited to 1080/60 with a bit more lag and compression artefacts but at least you 'could' play and Sony/MS increase their 'reach' and subscribers.

With Sony, any potential subscription numbers are limited to hardware numbers. If they have 100m users (not every PS4 sold is '1' user - I have 2 PS4's I never use and a PS5 so contribute to the 120m consoles sold) so can only get '100m' to subscribe at best. Game Pass is on Mobiles/tablets and PC, one of which I bet every PS gamer has access to and can reach the 300m gamers...

Its a direction that gaming is going in - and Sony will too. Of course you'll still be able to 'buy' games but as they get bigger, the distribution of physical media becomes more difficult meaning that some/all of the game is not even on disc - that disc is nothing more than the 'license' to access the software.

I own BOTH systems, have owned EVERY generation of Xbox and PS so I couldn't care less who owns what. I have ALWAYS had to buy BOTH to play ALL the games I want and I can see a future where you don't 'NEED' both (unless you want the best 'local, not streamed' experience on first party games). You could play Bethesda, Activision, Rare, 343 etc games on PS thanks to streaming but may want an Xbox for better visuals - just like gamers on Xbox could play Spider-Man, Uncharted etc but streamed at 1080/60...

@Sakisa Just what I was thinking, lol. New games in these series didn't seem likely before this acquisition, and they seem even less likely now. Microsoft clearly isn't interested in investing in mascot platformers.

First Bethesda, now Blizzard?

Don't worry, they're going through the companies alphabetically. It'll be a while before they get to Sony.

I think Sony will have to buy Square Enix or UbiSoft soon at this rate, after raising the funds to do so by selling off some equities.

@BranJ0 Anti-Consumer would be keeping those games 'exclusive' to a specific Platform, like PS5 instead of releasing them on many other devices, like PC/Mobile, making people having to buy the PS5 to play where as you can play on PC, Console or Mobile, no need to rebuy the game, no need to buy hardware specifically, you have a 'choice' of how you want to play. Ideally, they want Game Pass on PS but Sony won't allow it, at least not until they have a similar service they want on Xbox...

I just bought the Spyro trilogy on Switch for my wife... and I got the Crash games "free" with Plus. I'm set.

Still, I have to wonder WTF Sony's response will be? They can't compete with splashing billions around.

@BranJ0 When did Phil say that?

@BAMozzy that's my plan. i only have an Xbox Series X at the moment (haven't been able to get my hands on a ps5 yet), but is Sony's Game Pass is comprehensive, i may just use that and stream their games.

I mean ..... Sony has better characters than those two combined. Crash was just good during the PS1 days and I'm sure Sony somewhat still own those to re release on the 5 in the future? Not sure how that works and you can say the same for Spyro.

At the end of the day, I'm a PC and PS5 owner. This doesn't affect me at all because if you own a PC, XB is a total waste besides their OG XB and 360 BC library.

Sony needs to step up and buy Japanese devs. If they can buy up Sega, Capcom, and maybe a Square Enix (that one is going to be expensive as the other two not so much) then I think they should be fine. I think Square Enix would be a great deal mainly for movies. Sony can take advantage of a lot of their IPs and turn it into bad/decent movies and still make money off it.

All they need to do is develop their own First Person Shooter aka perhaps a new Resistance with an epic campaign and fun online and they'll be fine. They def need to bump up their FPS games now. They depended too much on meh COD games.

@AdamNovice yeah, I remember there being some anger over Sony’s exclusive Spider-Man skin deal for the Marvel’s Avengers game. This is way worse lol and the reaction from most gaming media outlets seems positively giddy. Where’s the outrage? Maybe everyone’s still in shock, I don’t know? 🤪

To put things into perspective $55bn would buy you Nintendo.

@BAMozzy Except you own nothing with game pass. I hate streaming services. This trend of every company in the world wanting a piece of your monthly check without actually giving you anything is insane. Soon you'll have algorithm based gaming like Netflix does algorithm programming .

@Uncharted2007 just keep making the best games in the industry

@RadioHedgeFund you're going to have to over pay to appeal to them just like they did for Beth and Acti. Nintendo is easily over 100 billion dollars and they won't sell because they've been doing extremely well and continue generating money for the future. They can make more doing what they're doing than being sold off.

@Gremio108 I think the Japanese goverment wont allow that some companies cant be sold.

@mvhess That's why I keep buying Playstation.

@SegaSaturnSNK Look they cant compete against MS they just had a contract with the US militairy the print money now.

Wow thats crazy. Crash bandicoot is a amazing franchise..wtf is Microsoft doing.come on sony step up.its like all those companies are selling theyre souls to x box.but PlayStation will always outsold them.word up son

@RadioHedgeFund we all remember how MS tried to buy Nintendo. It ended pretty well

Kinda weird that Sony had Crash and Spyro first back in the PS1 days and now Microsoft owns em now. But really no big deal honestly.

Have Naught Dog make a new Jak and no one will remember.

@Icey664 At that point Nintendo would be my new home. XD

This is the worst outcome of a terrible situation.

@AdamNovice I'm with you man. Microsoft always pulls that BS. They can't beat the competition so they buy them off.

@BAMozzy Jezus Christ you think this is consumer friendly 10 companies ruling the world? You think its honest its the same as working with a company for decades and then buying them.

Looks like sony might finally be open to game pass on playstation. U cant turnaway that COD user base and not expect consequences.

Tell you what, the higher ups at Sony probably have no idea what to do at this point. They don't have the capital to compete with this and will just lay there a d take it. This will be the last gen of consoles that Sony will dominate in. Once casuals start to figure out what is going on, they'll abandon Sony in a heartbeat, and thats what MS is banking on.

@ThorsHammer CoD has been in decline for years due to multiple reasons which I don't expect to be fixed, especially under MS ownership. It looks big now but it will continue to decline in the years to come, it'll make the loss much easier for PS fans to swallow as time passes.

Forget crash and spyro.

They own CALL OF DUTY!
I am not even a fan and I know that's messed up! It's literally the biggest FPS series on the market. Can't believe it's exclusive to Microsoft now...

On a side note: they own Blizzard entertainment as well now. This is massive in the PC verse. Like... insanely crazy. I'm in shock...

There will always be some that want to stick to the traditional way - whether that's buying Vinyl records, buying DVD/Bluray movies or buying Physical games. I think that will continue too.

However, more and more people are buying 'Digital' and whilst you may not own the games on a Subscription service,you can still access them anytime and 'purchase' them anytime too if you WANT!! Just because a game is available 'for free' via a Subscription, you can still 'buy' it to 'own' just like you can with games not in that service.

Both Sony and MS want to reach as many people as possible with their games and want you in 'their' ecosystem - however, the reach was limited by the 'need' to get you into that ecosystem. Those games were limited to make you 'buy' the hardware. However, with subscription streaming, they can get the 'reach' and increase their ecosystem size way beyond the hardware limits and still make 'their' platform the 'best' for their 1st party games by being able to play 'locally'. Also, you aren't going to be able to buy a PS5 native version of Starfield, but could play on PS5 through streaming - just like you can't buy Spider-Man for Xbox but maybe could play it on Xbox via streaming.

Also doesn't take away from the devs who still dedicate themselves to their platform, not porting to others, because that game won't 'release' on other platforms but could be streamed to them...

I guess this is my only take on this recent acquisition. The fact that Crash and Spyro, two beloved Playstation mascots, are now owned by Microsoft. Of course, being a mascot of PS hasn't been a thing for both character for years now but still, as someone who grew up in the PS1 era of gaming, I've always incorporated these two with the PS brand. Sony really needs to keep their IPs intact.

Pass the popcorn.

@AdamNovice go on twitter and see Xbox owners saying Sony are anti consumer for "locking" Final Fantasy to Playstation then in the next tweet lauding Microsoft for buying another huge development house, insane.

All platforms have lots of exclusives. I don't see a problem with this. If you've only ever bought one platform you've always missed out on certain games, going all the way back to SNES and Genesis days. Today is no different, Playstation still has loads of amazing exclusives, same as Nintendo. Now, so too does Xbox.

Now Sony fans can experience the hole left in many Nintendo fans' hearts after losing Banjo-Kazooie.

I just hope Microsoft does more with Acti-Blizz than Acti-Blizz ever did with itself. And this acquisition doesn't sweep all the recent controversies under the rug.

After finishing Crash Bandicoot 4 I said NEVER AGAIN (it was to hard and frustrating) So Microsoft can have him(shame SONY didn't keep Crash and Spyro tho) Oh well.

What a strange time to be alive 🤔🤔🤔

@AdamNovice I've been calling out on Microsoft for a long time on anti-competition practices, including refusing to purchase all future Bethesda products including Elder Scrolls...

Sony, tried to offer money of the studios to lock some of the games to PS (Deathloop, FFVII).

MS, yeah, hold my beer, I think I'll get the studios now. I think it is gone too far, but I think Sony themselves put the industry in this situation. They were talks about the approaching every single studio to keep their games exclusive to Playstation, MS, just was smarter, and enabled by much deeper pockets.

Holy crap. $70 Billion, what idiots. They'll need ten GTA's just to scrape even. Idiots

What the actual f did I just wake up to, 3am got up to go to the bathroom and I randomly check the news and my jaw hit the ground and now I’m totally awake, no coffee needed. Personally, I don’t play any of activision blizzards games except Diablo 3 and Spyro, but wow, just wooooowwwww. I’m happy Spyro and Crash will probably live on now but Microsoft are basically consolidating the industry under themselves “If we can’t make good games, let’s just by every company under the sun”. I expect next year they buy Sega, Capcom and Square Enix, then the year after they buy Nintendo and finally Sony because they won’t be getting 3rd party games anymore.

@Hobbesyall

Yeah because Sony woouldn't have done the same if they could. They are just in a different league financially. It's small change for microsoft.

As for the morale of it all....well we all remember Sony enticing square and nintendo players losing one of their biggest games to playstation.

Em I'll miss this stuff considering the remakes were great and the new crash game is really good. But to be honest I'd say Microsoft dont care for these titles, I'd say they are more happy the fact they have owner ship of the most popular MMO ever...and when its new expansions come they sell literally by the millions, and will continue to do so so Microsoft should be really happy with their purchase

Are you guys gonna pre-order the Microsoft PlayStation 6 or the Microsoft Xbox System W?

Xbox bought my dog and took it away from me

@Sakisa That may be worse since people want more games, but Toys for Bob seem active enough they'd want to make another Spyro and more Crash games.

God damn! Is all I can say. Not even a big fan of call of duty (I just play the campaign when it’s a tenner) but that’s a serious amount of cash and locks an iconic FPS behind Xbox!

FYI the entire NHS costs £56billion. So MS just spent the NHS budget on a games developer!

@SegaSaturnSNK Nintendo being 100G means nothing when MS is over 1T

I’ve been a gamer since 1988 and the only time I’ve played either game is when I had to play the Crash sequence in Uncharted in order to get the trophy.

@Sakisa They now own Toys for Bob and Vicarious Visions. So maybe we may get something new from Banjo out of this.

This is the same playbook Microsoft used on PC when they just had MS DOS!

... And likely won't do a single thing with either, much like Banjo.

@AdamNovice The media won't call out MS because they're being paid for. Gamers are infatuated with "Uncle Phil" to realise he doesn't care about the industry.

This is so insane. But people are easy sold. No one cared for the XBox One because of several reasons. But now suddenly, people buy the Series X thanks to this Gamepass. This is a model not good for console future. But people are so easy sold, it's so ridiculous.

@MFTWrecks NST was literally funded by SCE, not to mention Crash at Fiesta bowl and PS exclusive content on CTR Nitro Fueled

Cope

@BAMozzy actually it would be better for the consumer if they made it exclusive to one platform as you can create a better product if you are only developing it for a certain platform.

Hopefully they will start up the battlezone franchise again or soldier of fortune... Or maybe even prototype...

Calling Crash and Spyro legendary is a bit of a stretch.

This is what happens when you (nintendo and sony) sell your IP’s. Even when people barely play crash or spyro it hits them. I still don’t plan on buying a XSX now, but if it’s on sale I’ll grab it.

Sony should have bought other publishers, microsoft has been doing this for years.

@AdamNovice
I guess the ‘people’ you allude to are the ones who would rather be toxic and call modest individuals as ‘fan boi’ while celebrating the huge waste of money to acquire a publisher they didn’t care about before. That’s the impact of populist brainwashing from a ‘charismatic’ but devious leader who has the media in his pockets.
It’s been clear for years that what Ms is doing is completely outrageous and different than what Sony does but the press also pretend it’s fine.

@BAMozzy
Exclusives aren’t anti consumer but they are gate keeping. Anti consumer is when Ms sell a next gen marked box but inside sticks a last gen disc and game ..deceiving the consumers.

@Phantomlord0413
Exactly. Focusing on it’s user base is totally pro consumers. That’s what the consumers expect.
Buying out full publishers without control just to take out the competition is totally anti consumer, not the exclusivity per se.

You guys here can consider the option to buy another console. It is not your destiny to play games on PS. So stop being appocalyptic. Back in 1998, most of the big third party titles were Sony's exclusives, paid by Sony's big stash of gold compared to Sega and Nintendo.

@Phantomlord0413 Not really. They are all going to be making games for PC and/or Xbox as the target and play on Series X hardware in the cloud so are essentially only focussed on 1-2 platforms - scaling down for Series S near the end.

If you want to play elsewhere (Mobile, Tablet) then that is the streamed Series X version

@JJ2 If you want to play a Sony exclusive, whether that's a first party or a 3rd party, you have to buy a PS to play. With Xbox, you can play Day 1 on PC, Mobile or Xbox consoles - anywhere Game Pass exists.

Everyone has a Mobile Phone these days so the 'cost' to entry could be as low as a £1 for a month to play ALL those games. For Sony, the cost to entry is at least £350 + £70 for the Game.

@JJ2 That's NOT anti-consumer - you BUY a 'valid license' to access the game - you do NOT buy the game. The Game has to be 'distributed' for you to have a copy to access. How they distribute the game, whether that's put the last gen version on disc and download next gen via Smart Delivery or vice versa, doesn't really matter as they have to be 'installed' to internal storage anyway. Whether it installs from disc or internet is immaterial - as long as you get access via the Licence you purchased to play the version you expected.

The Consumer has not been conned into only getting the last gen version, may not of expected a download install but that's going to become more prevalent as Bluray disc space is limited. The disc still allows the 'next' gen version to install on next gen hardware and that person to play the game...

As I said, you NEVER own a Game, you only own a License to play it so all that realistically needs to be on a Disc, is a Licence and some download code to install the Software. As Sony have done with some games too

Who cares what Microsoft owns. Playstation has to do what they have always been doing. Support creativity and built up strong IPs. You don’t need to be number one to make good business. Let Xbox have all the publishers and developers they want. There is no doubt they are going to buy Take-Two, EA and Ubisoft as well. They have the money and the ambition to dominate the gaming industry. Let them have it. It’s like with Windows. At the end what really counts are the games and innovations. Monopolism kills innovation. It’s that simple. Sony will not stop publishing innovative and exciting new games. Xbox will at some point stop making consoles and put everything on game pass. Nintendo has their little ecosystem and doing fine and PlayStation will do the same. I hope they will not try to match Xbox. They should stay on course and ignore Xbox. Edit: Look at Apple and Microsoft. Sony is the new Apple and who is bigger now? Apple.

@BAMozzy
Haha you sure promote Ms fiercely.
A retail box entails a disc with a game on it. When what’s in the box isn’t what it’s supposed to be from the cover there it’s deceiving the consumer. It’s not about license at all.
Your first answer about exclusive has no point at all. Exclusives are gating people out of some systems is the point.

Edit
When they sell a code for digital download it should clearly say on the cover it’s a code. Not that complicated to understand really.

@BAMozzy free and subscription don't fall under the same sentence. I hate that I pay for Amazon Prime Video and they have a section that says "free for you". It wouldn't be "free" if I didn't pay the sub. Same with my GamePass sub. I pay for it so none of it is freely available. Only if I cough up those dimes.

@JJ2 Not really. I just see this for what it is and as someone who has been gaming for over 40 yrs, owned every gen of Playstation and every gen of Xbox, as well as numerous other brands of hardware from Nintendo, Sega, Atari, Commodore etc, I think I am being quite 'objective'.

I totally understand why Playstation gamers are 'upset' that those studio's and many of the 'new' games will not becoming to PS specifically but at the end of the day, they can still play on their Android/iOS phones/tablet or PC - the 'only' MS devices are the Xbox and Surface PC's. You can buy AMD/Intel/nVidia parts, PCs from HP, Alienware etc and still play,

To play 'Sony' Exclusives, timed or otherwise, the ONLY choice is to buy a Sony Playstation. To play 'Xbox' exclusives, you can play ANYWHERE game pass exists. To play R&C, you need at least £350 for the PS5 (discless) and £70 for the game. To play Starfield, you could subscribe on your phone/PC you already have for as little as £1 a month. Its not gating off these games to those that can afford and lucky enough to buy an 'expensive' console, buy the expensive games etc, its allowing EVERY gamer access from as little as £1 a month!!

@BAMozzy I'm not sure if this is accurate (correct me if I'm wrong though!). I have had to play all of the Fable Games on GamePass on my Xbox because it wasn't available on PC Gamepass. Not even the cloud option. I think this mostly applies but in some cases you cannot play the console games on PC.

@BAMozzy
I’m not upset haha
I think it’s great that Ms is spending $70b on a publisher I don’t care about instead of using that money to buy out great studios. 😅

I don’t know why your deflecting what I just said on other topics but whatever 😜
Exclusives are what they are. It’s not about money. I can give a disc to my friend any time for free. (He doesn’t even need the internet to play straight from disc)
It’s like you r in your bubble and there’s no need arguing. It’s is fine with me

@AdamNovice Never. Sony is always the bad guy, somehow. You never hear people decry "Xbox fanboys", and after the Bethesda buyout, even most Sony subreddits users were shuffling their feet and refusing to get mad or worried or care.

Anyway.... this is a depressing turn of events. Thankfully we got our remasters because CTR was my childhood, but.... what the hell is gonna happen from here??

@BAMozzy Not everyone can afford the kind of PC (parts or new one entirely) required to play new games!

@hanoka @Alpha_Pulse I agree that right now, many of the games are available on 'one' game pass platform, but the ultimate aim is to provide a robust 'cloud gaming' platform to enable EVERYONE to play ALL games - even if their hardware can't run it.

Even if you can't afford a PC with the required specs to play 'natively', you could still play on the 'cloud' on whatever hardware you have for as little as £1. Most gamers have a Mobile Phone.

With ANY Sony Exclusive, timed or otherwise, you have to buy a Sony Playstation to play Day1. Sony are also buying 'extra' content only available on Sony Hardware. With Xbox, all 'exclusives' will be on Game Pass which includes PC, Mobile/tablets and Xbox hardware. You also have a cheaper console option and one at the same price as a disc based PS5 so not being able to afford the 'kind of PC required to play 'new' games natively' isn't limiting their choice. Maybe they can buy a Series X maybe a Series S through All Access so only £21 a month. Maybe use their Android/iOS phone and DS4/5 controller - point is 'choice'.

You don't have to buy a MS Xbox, you can play on any brand PC/Phone.

Gaming is in a perilous state right now, it really does seem as if we're going to all end up dragged into the MS ecosystem whether we like it or not.

I don't think it's even about Sony putting up a GP equivalent, it almost feels like it's too late. They should focus on developing games at their current studios and almost having to bend the knee to MS in order to avoid them buying even more heavyweight publishers.

An EA or Take-Two would be a disaster for Sony, would really mean they've lost the 'casual' market.

Next developer Sony should buy isn't one of the big ones but should be Ember Labs. Playing Kena at present and whilst it's not perfect, it's a really nice game and the folks there are obviously talented.

honestly spyro and crash haven't been PlayStation characters since the ps1 era. once naughty dog and insomanic ditched those series for their own games , the quality of the games went down hill. the last crash game was good , but how involved was sony in the development? i'm curious if they already had a deal in place for the next crash game , or possible spyro game.

Awesome News! Nintendo Switch OLED and Xbox Series S are all I need!

@Icey664 I'd be happy! Sony is a joke anymore.

I always preferred Rachet and Clank to Crash anyway. I always even liked Spyro more than Crash and I don't think they'll do much substantial with Sypro.

@PlayStationGamer3919 you mean brought back considering they originally existed as Sony exclusives

@PlayStationGamer3919 I know that. What I was trying to say was that they were first conceived as PlayStation exclusives before the rights went elsewhere though I probably didn’t make my original comment clear.

@Icey664 As crazy as it sounds that would not be a bad idea, it would end the console war in it's tracks, then we will be free of sides.