Toys for Bob is bringing back Spyro with a game designed around what the studio calls its signature feature: real, unbroken dragon flight. Spyro: A Realm Beyond, announced at Xbox Games Showcase, marks the character's return to a starring role nearly two decades after the last original entry, and it places airborne movement at the absolute center of the experience.
The shift represents a fundamental rethinking of how players interact with Spyro's world. In every previous game, Spyro could glide, but true sustained flight was off the table. That changes here. At any moment, players can launch into the air with a button press, without restriction to specific zones or story beats. The catch: you still have to engage with the environment around you.
"We're trying to amplify what it means to be a dragon, and that means leaning into dragon flight," explained Lou Studdert, associate creative director at Toys for Bob. The gameplay glimpse shown during the showcase demonstrated Spyro diving to build momentum, using flame breath to ignite campfires for lift, and flapping his wings to sustain movement through the air.
This wasn't an afterthought. Flight was Toys for Bob's first design priority during prototyping, shaping every other decision the studio made for the game. "Some of the things that fans really enjoy about Spyro is just the movement," said studio head Paul Yan. "It's this Zen-like flow through the world, a sense of discovery and chaining your charge through the speed pads, collecting your gems. And so flight seems like a natural way to take that to the next level, literally."
The design team drew inspiration from what worked before. Toys for Bob previously developed the Reignited Trilogy, a 2018 remake of the original three Spyro games that brought the character and his world into sharp focus. That project planted the seed for A Realm Beyond. The studio is building on that foundation rather than starting from scratch.
Spyro himself has a visual refresh to match his expanded capabilities, sporting much larger wings than in previous titles. Tom Kenny, who voiced Spyro in the original games, returns for the role. Yan highlighted Kenny's casting as reflective of the studio's direction: respecting what made Spyro resonate with players while pushing forward.
The game launches across Xbox Series X and S, PC, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2 in spring 2027. More details are expected before release.
Author Emily Chen: "After 20 years, Toys for Bob is finally letting Spyro do what dragons should have been able to do all along, and building an entire game around that single mechanic is the kind of bold move that could make this feel genuinely fresh."
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