Spyro the Dragon is one of the most enduring 3D action platformers of the ’90s, and now it’s making its adventure adventure comeback. Announced during the Xbox Games Showcase 2026, Spyro: A Realm Beyond will see the brave purple dragon in a new game from developer Toys For Bob, the creative team behind the Spyro: Trilogy Relaunchedwho remastered the originals, and Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s about time.
Although we only got to see a brief glimpse of the game in the trailer, which heralds a big expansion of classic gameplay, we were able to catch up with Toys for Bob studio director Paul Yan and associate creative director Lou Studdert during the Xbox Games Showcase to find out how they managed to revive the Spyro series and what might be in store.
Details are still a little light as to what Spyro: a kingdom reborn that’s it, but what we do know is that it looks to give the classic action platformer a much-needed update that takes the character into more detailed and expansive worlds to explore. Although Spyro has found a second life in the once-popular Skylanders games and playsets, this will be the first mainline Spyro game in almost 20 years.
“When we built the game, we really focused on what makes a good Spyro game, and that comes with the fluidity of movement, the ability to interact with the environment to have that kind of zen momentum while you’re exploring,” said Paul Yan, studio director. “It’s something that we started with as sacred to Spyro, what makes Spyro unique, and we wanted to add that into a whole new dimension, and so now you’re going to do it both on land and in the air, and Spyro: A Realm Beyond was developed with that notion. We also think it’s a great entry point for new players, but it’s also developed with the fans in mind and keeping Spyro’s legacy in our hearts.”
Previously, developer Toys for Bob has worked on remasters and remakes of classic games, while also giving Crash Bandicoot a more fulfilling 4th installment with Crash 4: It’s about time. However, following the merger between Activision Blizzard and Microsoft, Toys For Bob served as a supporting studio for other games, including Monitoring 2 and the Call of Duty series. While developers credit their time supporting other titles with broadening their skills, they have expressed a desire to get back to making their own games.
One of the main details stated by the developers during their presentation of the game was that Spyro: A Realm Beyond will really focus on what it means to play as a dragon. While previous games certainly took inspiration from this with Spyro’s journey of becoming a skilled explorer and embracing his powers, the next game will go further by opening up the world a bit more, providing more opportunities for players to explore and move seamlessly between land and air play.
“We’re not ready to go into detail about the scope of the game, but what I will say is that with Dragon Flight, the premise of this whole journey with A Kingdom Beyond “It’s in how we combine these two desperate and disparate experiences of exploration and flight,” Yan said during the presentation. “You could have this freedom, and there’s a bunch of cascading responses that come from that once you enable that kind of freedom, and the environment itself has to be shaped in order to support that experience, so this is just a small taste of what we’re doing to support that kind of movement.”
During the presentation, the developers stated that the main goal of A Kingdom Beyond ensures that the game is engaging for both newcomers to the series, but is also a worthy follow-up for returning fans. The original trilogy is still very popular, especially with the Revived trilogyAnd A Kingdom Beyond will see the return of Tom Kenny, the original Spyro voice actor, to bring the same energy and atmosphere as the classic games.
Toys for Bob / Activision Publishing
A Kingdom Beyond proved to be one of the most exciting reveals of the Xbox Games Showcase, and it shows that there’s still potential for the purple dragon to make another return. With the idea of a bigger, smoother world to explore, and with many more villains to fight, A Realm Beyond seems to have a solid concept for how to give the classic character a much-needed return to the spotlight.
Spyro: A Realm Beyond is expected to release in spring 2027 on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC.
