Naughty Dog Explains Reasons for No Longer Working on Crash Bandicoot Game

GAMEFINITY.ID, Jakarta – The name Crash Bandicoot actually cannot be separated from Naughty Dog. It was the studio that first developed the first game in the 1996 Crash Bandicoot series for the PlayStation console.

However, the bad relationship between Naughty Dog and Crash Bandicoot IP owner Universal Interactive prevented the original developer from continuing to make Crash Bandicoot games after Crash Team Racing (1999). This is acknowledged by Jason Rubin, director and co-founder of Naughty Dog.

“Our relationship with Universal has reached a point where we cannot continue making Crash Bandicoot games. While we love Crash Bandicoot and we love working with Sony, it’s not financially possible. Universal owns the IP, and there is hostility there that is very brutal,” Rubin told GamesRadar.

Overall, Naughty Dog worked on four Crash Bandicoot games, namely the first trilogy of games: Crash Bandicoot (1996), Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (1997), Crash Bandicoot: Warped (1998) and Crash Team Racing (1999).

After falling out with Universal, several Naughty Dog developers quietly began working on a new game engine, which later became the basis of Jak and Daxter. Naughty Dog is now also known for the Uncharted series and The Last of Us.

The development of Crash Bandicoot was continued by Vivendi Games (Vivendi Universal), before the merger between Vivendi and Activision in 2007 to become Activision Blizzard which now owns the IP of the game Crash Bandicoot. Crash Bandicoot’s last game, Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time (2021) was developed by Vicarious Visions and Toys for Bob.

While the mobile game Crash Bandicoot: Crash on the Run is scheduled to be released on Thursday (25/3/2021) for Android and IOS.