Xbox and PlayStation team up to revive PS1 mascot on PS5

Despite Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, it seems that Xbox and PlayStation have come to an agreement regarding beloved mascots of the PS1 era.

After a seemingly never-ending court battle with US market regulator, the FTC attempting to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision, the deal was finally completed in 2023. This now means the likes of Call of Duty and more are Xbox first-party titles.

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Thankfully, at least one Activision property will remain multiplatform following the acquisition, and that’s Call of Duty with its next entry, Black Ops 6, releasing later this year. What’s more, it looks like two other properties, Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon, will also not be restricted to the green brand, at least for the immediate future.

Twitter user eXtas1stv shared two very low-res images that look like they're straight out of the 90s, ironically, the decade which saw the first releases of Crash and Spyro, and it’s claimed both of the images are taken from upcoming PlayStation 5 exclusive, Astro Bot with footage of the game leaking over the weekend.

These images have led fans on Reddit to speculate that Microsoft and Sony have come to an agreement that could see future Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon releases launch on the blue brand. “Rumour: Sony has reached an agreement with Activision/Xbox for Crash Bandicoot and Spyro to be present in the Astro Bot game for PS5,” posted SpyroManiac36.

“I don't think Xbox would even be against it, to be honest,” suggested Lz537. “It’s cash for them and they aren’t working on new games in those franchises right now anyway,” replied dccorona. “There’s no downside and it might reinvigorate interest in those games at which point Microsoft can make a new one.”

“That's not a rumour, footage of the game leaked and those two characters are in the game. The deal for the characters shown in the game might precede the Xbox acquisition though,” claimed DAV_2-0.

Zhukov-74 also made a very good point: “People do realise that Astro Bot has been in development since before the Activision acquisition right?”

A new Crash Bandicoot or Spyro the Dragon game has not been announced at the time of writing, but it’s surely only a matter of time. So when that announcement is inevitably made, hopefully, we will see a launch on both Xbox and PlayStation, as well as Nintendo Switch.

Astro Bot will be released on PlayStation 5 on 6 September 2024.