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Activision announces Spyro's return

In season three of Crash Bandicoot: On the Run.

Beloved platforming mascot Spyro the dragon will ride again in the new season of free-to-play mobile game Crash Bandicoot: On the Run.

Made by King, Activision's mobile arm, the hugely-lucrative On the Run launches its third season, Battle of the Dragons, today, 10th June.

Spyro will make an appearance, but can you actually play as Spyro? It looks like you'll get a Spyro-themed skin for Crash - so maybe that's as close as it gets.

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Battle of the Dragons also adds a new land to explore, plus Spyro series villains Dark Spyro and Gnasty Gnorc to defeat.

Other new bosses include Crash veterans N.Gin and Koala Kong (no relation).

So, when might we see a new Spyro platformer for consoles? Or another Crash Bandicoot, for that matter? Despite successful remaster trilogy releases and Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time selling well last year, things don't look too promising.

Activision's Toys for Bob studio, which developed Crash 4 and Spyro Reignited Trilogy, is now focused on Call of Duty: Warzone. The California-based studio suffered multiple staff exits as part of the shift.

Meanwhile, Activision's Vicarious Visions, which developed Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy as well as Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2, has been shuffled over to work with Blizzard.

Nearly every remaining Activision studio is now working on some part of the Call of Duty franchise.

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In the meantime, Crash Bandicoot: On the Run has been doing the numbers. It enjoyed a bigger launch than many other games launched by King, such as Bubble Witch 3 Saga. Only Candy Crush Jelly Saga earned more (almost $1.5m in a week), though was downloaded around half as many times.

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