Toys for Bob would love to make a new Banjo-Kazooie if Xbox ever asks

Toys for Bob, the studio currently building Spyro: A Realm Reborn, has made it pretty clear they'd jump at the chance to revive Banjo-Kazooie — if Xbox gave them the green light. The comments came out of a recent Kinda Funny Games interview with studio head Paul Yan and associate creative director Lou Studdert.

When asked whether making a new Banjo-Kazooie had ever come up internally, Yan laughed and replied, "How frequently, you mean" — signaling it's a recurring topic at the studio. Studdert was equally enthusiastic: "It's a franchise we love. As platformer fans, Banjo's the top of the heap. We have huge, huge fans of that franchise on our staff — I'm talking they have the Jiggy as their profile pic, that level of fan." He added that "if the opportunity ever arose, that'd be amazing." Yan called the characters "timeless" and "iconic" rather than merely nostalgic, saying Banjo-Kazooie "speaks to a timeless place" in players — exactly the kind of game Toys for Bob loves to make.

Toys for Bob has a credible case for the pitch. The studio made Crash Bandicoot 4 and the Spyro Reignited Trilogy before going independent from Activision in 2024, and it now has a working relationship with Xbox, which owns both the Spyro and Banjo-Kazooie IP. Banjo-Kazooie has been dormant since Nuts & Bolts in 2008, and fan appetite for a proper sequel has never really gone away — making Toys for Bob's enthusiasm land with a receptive audience.

For now, the studio's focus is on Spyro: A Realm Reborn, announced at Xbox's Summer Game Fest showcase earlier this year. Banjo will have to wait — but at least the people most likely to do him justice are clearly thinking about it.