Old Spyro To Come Back?
Could the platforming Spyro we knew of old see a return? Maybe, maybe not.
Activision kept the rights to the Spyro license along with a select four other properties following its merger with Vivendi Games/Blizzard. That obviously means they have an interest in furthering Spyro and believe he will continue to be lucrative for some time.
But with the taglines for Dawn of the Dragon stating repeatedly labeling it as the ‘last of the trilogy’ and ‘the final chapter’, many fans have begun to wonder what will happen next.
We know there will be another Spyro after Dawn of the Dragon, but in what form?
Could they decide to continue the Legend of series? Is it too late to go back to the old platforming series? Or will they reinvent the wheel again and take our dragon in a whole new direction. It sounds like the latter could become a reality.
Activision's Publishing CEO Mike Griffith commented during a meeting about the company's earnings:
Speaking on the nature of Dawn of the Dragon he said he was "encouraged" by the upcoming title but...
Griffith claims that the Spyro and Crash Bandicoot franchises have earned a total of $55 million combined.
His total statement was as follows:
What do you think? Will "consumer testing" show that the old Spyro should return or that he should stick to this Legend series? Or will they do something totally new and different? What would YOU like them to do?
Activision kept the rights to the Spyro license along with a select four other properties following its merger with Vivendi Games/Blizzard. That obviously means they have an interest in furthering Spyro and believe he will continue to be lucrative for some time.
But with the taglines for Dawn of the Dragon stating repeatedly labeling it as the ‘last of the trilogy’ and ‘the final chapter’, many fans have begun to wonder what will happen next.
We know there will be another Spyro after Dawn of the Dragon, but in what form?
Could they decide to continue the Legend of series? Is it too late to go back to the old platforming series? Or will they reinvent the wheel again and take our dragon in a whole new direction. It sounds like the latter could become a reality.
Activision's Publishing CEO Mike Griffith commented during a meeting about the company's earnings:
| Quote: |
| We feel these brands have a lot of runway left and will positively benefit from our consumer research and testing. |
Speaking on the nature of Dawn of the Dragon he said he was "encouraged" by the upcoming title but...
| Quote: |
| We also know that these properties are ripe for reinvention to increase their appeal, and that's what we're focused on in the future. |
Griffith claims that the Spyro and Crash Bandicoot franchises have earned a total of $55 million combined.
His total statement was as follows:
| Quote: |
| …we have identified those products and studios that fit within our within our financial requirements and long term strategies… We are excited to add to our portfolio two proven wholly owned IPs Crash Bandicoot and Spyro. Games based on these two franchises have sold more than 55 million units worldwide LTD. We feel these brands have a lot of runway left and will positively benefit from our consumer research and testing. We are encouraged by these games that are in development for the December corridor, but we also know these properties are ripe for reinvention to increase their appeal and that is what we are focused on for the future.
With respect to licensed properties we are also pleased to add Ice Age to our lineup. The Ice Age movies have been very successful, grossing over a billion dollars in revenues and the Ice Age games have sold more than 2 million units. In summary all three of these proven properties complement our brand portfolio and further strengthen our leadership position in family entertainment and movie based video games. In addition to these games and proven properties we will also add two new very promising wholly owned IPs. The first is Prototype, which is in late stage development and has already delivered strong buzz and anticipation. The game looks great, it’s very distinctive and we think it has exciting potential. The second property has yet to be announced, but I can tell you it has generated an awful lot of internal excitement and I look forward to sharing more details with you in the future. Finally with respect to the catalog we will continue to support the Vivendi games catalog business including the recently released Mummy, which was timed to coincide with this week’s theatrical release. In terms of studios our key strategy is to drive our independent model as a long term competitive model, and as announced we are adding two of Vivendi games studios to our model, High Moon the studio behind the Bourne game and Radical the developers of Crash Bandicoot and Prototype. With respect to all other Vivendi games, products, and operations there are some very talented people at these units and we are currently evaluating various options but we have determined that these units will not play a strategic role in Activision publishing’s future portfolio. |
What do you think? Will "consumer testing" show that the old Spyro should return or that he should stick to this Legend series? Or will they do something totally new and different? What would YOU like them to do?
