Activision’s Toys for Bob studio goes independent after massive layoffs at Xbox

Activision’s Toys for Bob studio has announced it’s leaving the corporate rat race, and it is spins off as an independent developer. It comes just weeks after Activision Blizzard’s parent company, Microsoft, imposed sweeping layoffs at Toys for Bob that affected 86 employees. This is more than half of the entire staff.

The developer said the choice to go indie would allow it to return to a “small and nimble studio”, harkening back to its early days in the 1980s and 1990s when it created hit titles such as Star control. To that end, the company says it’s already developing a new game, though there won’t be any official announcements for a while.

Also, there seems to be no offense to former parent company Activision and, er, parent company Microsoft. Toys for Bob said both organizations were “extremely supportive of our new direction and we are confident that we will continue to work closely together as part of our future.”

Toys for Bob is mostly known for the Skylanders franchise, but it’s also behind the well-reviewed Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time and on Spyro Reignited Trilogy. Also involved in creating content for Call of Duty: Warzone.