There are few games as synonymous with my childhood as Spyro. That little purple guy is one of my all-time favorite videogame characters, alongside his bipedal, Wumpa fruit-eating brother-in-chaos, Crash Bandicoot. While The Reignited Trilogy was a nostalgia-tinted blast from the past, I’ve been eagerly awaiting a new entry in the series, akin to Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time. Imagine my face, then, when I attended an ominous, Activision-hosted preview roundtable ahead of Summer Game Fest, and Spyro: A Realm Beyond appeared on my screen. I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t shed a little tear, then immediately started looking for sheep to headbutt.
Spyro: A Realm’s Beyond’s initial trailer is relatively simple: the Dragon Realms appear to be under threat from the corrupting influence of a mysterious spellcaster, who wields a twisted staff with a shining, neon-pink gem as its core. Darkness has fallen over the land; a stony structure towers up into the skies, and there’s only one purple dragon that can save the day.
While the details are relatively thin, what we do see is Spyro dynamically take to the skies, breaking out into a soar mid-run. It’s new tech for the series, which Toys for Bob is aptly referring to as active dragonflight (no, not the World of Warcraft expansion). Associate Creative Director Lou Studdert explains that the team wanted to “lean into the true capabilities of being a dragon,” which he says “is personified by the fact that we are now providing Spyro with the full, true freedom to take flight whenever he wants.
“This is not select levels where Spyro can fly; this is not just a light glide,” he highlights. “The player is going to be able to move from the ground, to the skies, whenever they like. It’s a whole new way to play Spyro.”
Spyro: A Realm Beyond is set to release in Spring 2027, and is coming to Steam, Xbox, PlayStation 5, and the Nintendo Switch 2. ‘Spring’ normally refers to Q2, so between April through June, but we don’t have an exact date yet, just the dragon game’s launch window.
The last mainline Spyro game released in 2008 (The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon), with the remastered Reignited Trilogy dropping in 2018. It’s 2026 now, and with a 2027 launch date, that means we’ve waited a colossal 19 years for a new entry. During a press roundtable with Studdert and Studio Head Paul Yan, I ask the team about the level of pressure that puts on them, given both the extensive wait, and the sheer love for the franchise.
“Honestly, the pressure is also on ourselves,” Studdert says. “Spyro is in the DNA of the studio. We are just as passionate as the fanbase about making sure that we preserve and amplify the legacy of our favorite little Purple Dragon. We take great care and responsibility in how we preserve the tone and how we take this little guy forward.
“We’re extremely excited about what we’ve got, we think it’s something that we as fans of the franchise would want to see, and hopefully [the players] agree.”
More generally, however, Yan states that Toys For Bob is all about creating “positive, optimistic, joyful experiences;” something it learned in the wake of some internal development work on other Activision titles, including Call of Duty: Warzone. Yan describes those years as being somewhat “challenging,” with Spyro: A Realm Beyond and Toys For Bob’s eventual split from Activision being the result of a lot of “soul searching.” Spyro, then, is meant to be a positive light in what is, realistically, a somewhat dark world.
So, in the spirit of whimsy and optimism, I asked what I personally believe was the most important question of the roundtable (apologies for my arrogance, fellow games journalists). Sheep and Spyro go hand-in-hand, or horn-in-wool, as the case may be. I enquire whether or not we’re going to be headbutting those little legged clouds in the style of the older titles, and if, given the focus on this new, dynamic dragonflight, we’ll see sheep in the sky (I think that latter one caught Yan and Studdert by surprise – sheep are sneaky, after all).
“We have a very deep love for Spyro as a franchise, and I think we would be remiss to say that sheep are not a part of that,” Studdert says through laughter. “Obviously there are no sheep in the trailer so I can neither confirm nor deny sheep at this time. But as stewards of the franchise who love Spyro, sheep play a very important role.” Sheep steward is a good title, if I do say so myself.
“But one of the great things about Spyro: A Realm Beyond is that it is allowing us, as a new entry point, to have our creativity fill in this environment; you can even see in the trailer one of our new types of creatures roaming about the countryside that we’re presenting. So, definitely more to come, and I’ll keep an eye out for those wooly beasts.” He goes on to call them a “blight on this Earth” later in the call, however, which doesn’t feel very stewardy, but then again, I’m the one that brought up headbutting them.
As aforementioned, Spyro: A Realm Beyond will launch in Spring 2027. It’s shot to the top of my most-anticipated games list, and I’m sure it has for you, too.
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