I’ve been banging on for months now that I’ve been wanting a new Crash Bandicoot developed by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation 4. Recent rumours have suggested that Sony Computer Entertainment has quietly reacquired the Crash IP from Activision and a recent Facebook post by Sony PlayStation Denmark has all but confirmed the return of the iconic marsupial to the PlayStation family.

Here’s the picture and caption that PlayStation Denmark sent out earlier this week:

This isn’t the first time that Sony has teased a Crash Bandicoot return. In August, an Activision rep said that Sony bought Crash from the publisher though the company scrambled to claim it was a mistake. An ad in November had a little Easter Egg message indicating that Crash was coming back to Sony. A few weeks ago, PlayStation Brazil tweeted a Crash picture with the caption “Crash wants a hug!” Activision has also removed all mention of Crash Bandicoot from their website though that could be in part because they haven’t released a Crash game since 2008.

Now, Activision has said that they haven’t sold the Crash IP and are still looking at ways to reboot it but that doesn’t mean that we won’t see new Crash games. I look at this as an “if there’s smoke, there’s fire” moment. All of the little hints indicate that Crash is coming back and almost certainly as a PlayStation exclusive, whether it’s on the PS4 or Vita.

It’s entirely possible that Activision hasn’t sold Crash but has entered into an agreement with SCE to get a Crash game on PS4. That was basically how the original Crash games worked. Naughty Dog developed the games, Universal Interactive Studios produced and distributed them and Sony Computer Entertainment was the publisher. What’s to say a similar deal hasn’t been reached with a first-party dev (not necessarily Naughty Dog, though ideally) taking over the IP with Activision and SCE sharing the costs and publishing rights seeing as Sony never really owned Crash in the first place?

Nothing is set in stone yet and all this Crash Bandicoot hype is all speculation based on putting together the many pieces of the puzzle. Given the success of platformers like Skylanders, Rayman and Super Mario, there’s still a market for more child-focused platform games. Given the lack of them on the PS4 and XB1, now’s the perfect time for a Crash Bandicoot comeback.

Sources: NeoGAF, PlayStation Universe, Sony PlayStation Denmark
Banner image via ModDB