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Toys for Bob
Toys for Bob, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Novato, California. It was founded in 1989 by Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford and is best known for creating Star Control and the Skylanders franchise, as well as for working on the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro franchises.
The studio began as a partnership between Reiche and Ford. The two had separately attended the University of California, Berkeley in the late 1970s before entering the video game industry in the early 1980s. They later met through mutual friends in 1988, when Reiche was seeking a programmer to develop Star Control for Accolade. This led to the creation of their partnership in 1989 and the debut of Star Control in 1990. The release was considered a landmark science fiction game and led to the 1992 sequel Star Control II, which greatly expanded the series' story and scale. Star Control II is celebrated as one of the greatest games of all time and is featured on several "best of" lists for music, writing, world design, and character design. The studio adopted the name Toys for Bob to stimulate curiosity and differentiate themselves from other studios.
With Crystal Dynamics as their publisher, they developed several games, including The Horde, Pandemonium!, and The Unholy War. In the early 2000s, the studio transitioned to working on licensed games before being laid off by Crystal Dynamics. With Terry Falls as a co-owner, Reiche and Ford incorporated the studio in 2002. Activision became their publisher soon after, and eventually acquired the studio in 2005. Toys for Bob created the Skylanders series when Activision merged with Vivendi Games and acquired the Spyro franchise. The developers at Toys for Bob had already been experimenting with using physical toys to interact with video games and believed that this technology would be ideal for Spyro's universe of characters. Credited with inventing the toys-to-life genre, the 2011 release of Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure was considered a technological and commercial breakthrough. This led to a spinoff series with several successful games, generating a billion dollars in revenue for Activision in the first 15 months and winning several awards. In 2018, Toys for Bob assisted with the development of the remaster compilations Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Spyro Reignited Trilogy, earning a reputation leading a revival of properties from the original PlayStation.
After the release of Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time in 2020, Reiche and Ford left the company to start an independent studio. Toys for Bob took on new leadership under Paul Yan and Avery Lodato while working on the Call of Duty series. After Activision's parent company, Activision Blizzard, faced lawsuits over workplace harassment and discrimination, Microsoft acquired the holding in October 2023. Following layoffs at the studio, Toys for Bob spun off from Activision in May 2024.
Toys for Bob began as a partnership between Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford. The two founders separately attended the University of California, Berkeley, around the same time, and both entered the video game industry in the early 1980s. Ford started his career creating games for Japanese personal computers before transitioning to more corporate work, but after a few years working at graphics companies in Silicon Valley, Ford realized he missed working in the game industry. Meanwhile, Reiche had started his career working for Dungeons & Dragons publisher TSR before developing PC games for Free Fall Associates. Reiche's producer at Free Fall took a new job at Accolade and helped Reiche secure a three-game agreement with the publisher. At this point, Reiche needed a programmer and Ford was seeking a designer/artist, so their mutual friends set up a board game night to introduce them. Those friends included fantasy artist Erol Otus, as well as game designer Greg Johnson, who hosted the meet-up. Soon after, Reiche and Ford formed their studio in 1989.
Reiche and Ford's first collaboration was Star Control, released for MS-DOS in 1990. Originally called Starcon, the game began as an evolution of the concepts that Reiche first created in Archon: The Light and the Dark. Archon's strategic elements were adapted for Star Control into a space setting, with one-on-one ship combat inspired by the classic 1962 game Spacewar!. During production, Reiche and Ford spent time working on their collaborative process, and this was partly why the game was limited in scope compared to its sequel. Upon its release, Star Control was voted the "Best Science Fiction Game" by Video Games and Computer Entertainment, and decades later, it is remembered as one of the greatest games of all time, with numerous game developers citing it as an influence on their work.
The success of Star Control led to a more ambitious sequel, Star Control II. Reiche and Ford aimed to expand on the first game's combat system with deeper storytelling. Their goal of creating a dynamic space adventure was largely inspired by Starflight, designed by Greg Johnson in 1986. While developing Starflight, Johnson had shared office space with Reiche, who became so fascinated with the project that he helped Johnson build the game's communication system. Years later, this friendship led Reiche to ask Johnson to work on Star Control II, and Johnson became one of the game's most significant contributors. Star Control's story and characters were vastly expanded from those of the first game. As Reiche and Ford worked on the first version of the game's dialog, they recognized they needed help with the writing and art and decided to enlist the help of close friends. In addition to Johnson, they recruited Otus, who contributed art, music, and text (as well as voice acting, in a later release). Through mutual friends, they acquired the talents of fantasy artist George Barr. The project eventually ran over schedule, and the budget from Accolade ran out. During the final months of development, Ford supported the team financially.
Star Control II received even more acclaim than the first game, earning recognition as one of the best games of all time by numerous publications since its release. It is also ranked among the best games in several specific areas, including writing, world design, character design, and music. Star Control II has also inspired the design of numerous games, including the open-ended gameplay of Fallout, the world design of Mass Effect, and the story events of Stellaris. After finishing a Star Control II port to the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer (with additional voice acting and game improvements), Accolade offered Ford and Reiche the same budget to produce a third game, which they turned down to pursue other projects. As the pair had retained the rights to their characters and stories from the first two games, they licensed their content to Accolade so that the publisher could produce Star Control 3 without their involvement.
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Toys for Bob
Toys for Bob, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Novato, California. It was founded in 1989 by Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford and is best known for creating Star Control and the Skylanders franchise, as well as for working on the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro franchises.
The studio began as a partnership between Reiche and Ford. The two had separately attended the University of California, Berkeley in the late 1970s before entering the video game industry in the early 1980s. They later met through mutual friends in 1988, when Reiche was seeking a programmer to develop Star Control for Accolade. This led to the creation of their partnership in 1989 and the debut of Star Control in 1990. The release was considered a landmark science fiction game and led to the 1992 sequel Star Control II, which greatly expanded the series' story and scale. Star Control II is celebrated as one of the greatest games of all time and is featured on several "best of" lists for music, writing, world design, and character design. The studio adopted the name Toys for Bob to stimulate curiosity and differentiate themselves from other studios.
With Crystal Dynamics as their publisher, they developed several games, including The Horde, Pandemonium!, and The Unholy War. In the early 2000s, the studio transitioned to working on licensed games before being laid off by Crystal Dynamics. With Terry Falls as a co-owner, Reiche and Ford incorporated the studio in 2002. Activision became their publisher soon after, and eventually acquired the studio in 2005. Toys for Bob created the Skylanders series when Activision merged with Vivendi Games and acquired the Spyro franchise. The developers at Toys for Bob had already been experimenting with using physical toys to interact with video games and believed that this technology would be ideal for Spyro's universe of characters. Credited with inventing the toys-to-life genre, the 2011 release of Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure was considered a technological and commercial breakthrough. This led to a spinoff series with several successful games, generating a billion dollars in revenue for Activision in the first 15 months and winning several awards. In 2018, Toys for Bob assisted with the development of the remaster compilations Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Spyro Reignited Trilogy, earning a reputation leading a revival of properties from the original PlayStation.
After the release of Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time in 2020, Reiche and Ford left the company to start an independent studio. Toys for Bob took on new leadership under Paul Yan and Avery Lodato while working on the Call of Duty series. After Activision's parent company, Activision Blizzard, faced lawsuits over workplace harassment and discrimination, Microsoft acquired the holding in October 2023. Following layoffs at the studio, Toys for Bob spun off from Activision in May 2024.
Toys for Bob began as a partnership between Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford. The two founders separately attended the University of California, Berkeley, around the same time, and both entered the video game industry in the early 1980s. Ford started his career creating games for Japanese personal computers before transitioning to more corporate work, but after a few years working at graphics companies in Silicon Valley, Ford realized he missed working in the game industry. Meanwhile, Reiche had started his career working for Dungeons & Dragons publisher TSR before developing PC games for Free Fall Associates. Reiche's producer at Free Fall took a new job at Accolade and helped Reiche secure a three-game agreement with the publisher. At this point, Reiche needed a programmer and Ford was seeking a designer/artist, so their mutual friends set up a board game night to introduce them. Those friends included fantasy artist Erol Otus, as well as game designer Greg Johnson, who hosted the meet-up. Soon after, Reiche and Ford formed their studio in 1989.
Reiche and Ford's first collaboration was Star Control, released for MS-DOS in 1990. Originally called Starcon, the game began as an evolution of the concepts that Reiche first created in Archon: The Light and the Dark. Archon's strategic elements were adapted for Star Control into a space setting, with one-on-one ship combat inspired by the classic 1962 game Spacewar!. During production, Reiche and Ford spent time working on their collaborative process, and this was partly why the game was limited in scope compared to its sequel. Upon its release, Star Control was voted the "Best Science Fiction Game" by Video Games and Computer Entertainment, and decades later, it is remembered as one of the greatest games of all time, with numerous game developers citing it as an influence on their work.
The success of Star Control led to a more ambitious sequel, Star Control II. Reiche and Ford aimed to expand on the first game's combat system with deeper storytelling. Their goal of creating a dynamic space adventure was largely inspired by Starflight, designed by Greg Johnson in 1986. While developing Starflight, Johnson had shared office space with Reiche, who became so fascinated with the project that he helped Johnson build the game's communication system. Years later, this friendship led Reiche to ask Johnson to work on Star Control II, and Johnson became one of the game's most significant contributors. Star Control's story and characters were vastly expanded from those of the first game. As Reiche and Ford worked on the first version of the game's dialog, they recognized they needed help with the writing and art and decided to enlist the help of close friends. In addition to Johnson, they recruited Otus, who contributed art, music, and text (as well as voice acting, in a later release). Through mutual friends, they acquired the talents of fantasy artist George Barr. The project eventually ran over schedule, and the budget from Accolade ran out. During the final months of development, Ford supported the team financially.
Star Control II received even more acclaim than the first game, earning recognition as one of the best games of all time by numerous publications since its release. It is also ranked among the best games in several specific areas, including writing, world design, character design, and music. Star Control II has also inspired the design of numerous games, including the open-ended gameplay of Fallout, the world design of Mass Effect, and the story events of Stellaris. After finishing a Star Control II port to the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer (with additional voice acting and game improvements), Accolade offered Ford and Reiche the same budget to produce a third game, which they turned down to pursue other projects. As the pair had retained the rights to their characters and stories from the first two games, they licensed their content to Accolade so that the publisher could produce Star Control 3 without their involvement.