Crash Bandicoot 5 has been cancelled in favour of live service games, it is said

According to a new report, Crash Bandicoot 5 was in development at developer Toys For Bob but was canceled as Activision cut funding for single-player titles in favor of live service multiplayer titles.

According to a new report by gaming historian Liam Robertson, the game, which was in very early stages of production, was canceled after Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time's sales were subdued from Activision's perspective.

At about the same time, Activision is said to have also rejected offers for sequels to single-player titles such as “Tony Hawk's Pro Skater”.

The report claims that following Toys For Bob's work on the Spyro Reignited Trilogy, the company conceived a multiplayer Crash title before deciding to use the work on that multiplayer title to create a new single-player entry in the Crash series. This would eventually lead to Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time.

Following this release, Toys For Bob commissioned a small group of developers to imagine the future of the series. The project was to be internally called Crash Bandicoot 5. It was said to be a single-player 3D platform game and a direct sequel to Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time.

The report contains alleged concept art and suggested story concepts for the yet-to-be-announced game, which include the game being set in a school for evil children and returning villains from previous games.

One alleged concept even had Crash teaming up with Spyro after an interdimensional threat to both worlds broke out. According to the report, “Crash and Spyro were to be the two playable characters.”

Last month, a former Toys For Bob artist claimed that a fifth Crash Bandicoot game at the studio had been canceled.

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy was added to Game Pass earlier this month.