As the gaming mascots of millennial childhood have been resuscitated one by one for a nostalgic audience, one has remained notably absent: 1990s PlayStation hero Spyro. A new game starring the purple dragon was announced at tonight’s Xbox Game Showcase – the first original title since 2008. Called Spyro: Realms Beyond, it is being developed by studio Toys for Bob in California and will be released in spring 2027 on Xbox, PlayStation 5, PC and Nintendo Switch 2.

It features a freshly redesigned Spyro with his trademark quiff, voiced by Tom Kenny, the original star of the games. Unlike in the original Spyro titles, players will be able to take flight at any time. “[We’re] leaning into the true capabilities of being a dragon,” explains creative director Lou Studdert. “It’s really engaging … the player is making decisions how they fly. They are diving down to sustain speed. They are using fire-breath to light campfires, to create an updraft to get lift before flapping their wings.”

Spyro’s original developer in the 1990s was Insomniac Games (currently working on Marvel’s Wolverine under Sony). Fellow Californian development studio Toys for Bob made the well-received Spyro Reignited Trilogy remaster in 2018, as well as the popular 2010s toy-and-game series Skylanders, which started as a Spyro spin-off, under Activision. It has since become an independent studio, and longtime boss Paul Yan said he is enthused to return to the kinds of welcoming, whimsical games that the developer is “most passionate about, and that were best known for”.

“These are games that are positive, optimistic, joyful experiences that are developed and centred around colourful characters in handcrafted worlds,” said Yan, “and we like developing games for broad audiences… games that appeal to the inner child in in all gamers.”

This speaks to a somewhat uncomfortable truth for everyone who recognises Spyro on sight: the original audience of Spyro fans is now definitively 30+. Even kids who discovered Spyro as part of the 2010s Skylanders toy craze are into their 20s by now. This new game has to appeal to a new generation of children, as well as their misty-eyed parents – a fact of which Toys for Bob seems well aware. “We wanted to make sure that this is a welcoming entry point for all players: young, old, those familiar with the game or the franchise and those new to it as well,” said Yan.

Colourful family-friendly platform games such as this felt much more numerous in the 90s than they are today, when relatively few developers beyond Nintendo are making games for a broader audience. Does Yan believe that this is part of a wider return to the friendlier gaming tone of Spyro’s heyday? “Tonally, Spyro is something that the world needs very much … A game that is full of optimism and positivity,” he said. “It’s it’s our studio mission to inspire love, joy and laughter in the games that we make. And if the the tide is turning and the trends are are putting a spotlight on that, we’re all for it.”