Project Dragon and “Crash 5 that never was” detailed

In an X post Game Character Designer and Illustrator Nicholas Kole announced that “our cancelled project of the last 3 years is officially, truly dead”.

The Project Dragon title initially caused quite a stir, with fans initially assuming the announcement was Spyro-related as Kole worked with Toys for Bob on Crash 4 and Spyro. Kole quickly put that rumor to bed, confirming that “it is not Spyro, but some day folks will hear about the Crash 5 that never was”. Crash fans were understandably upset.

“Some day folks will hear about the Crash 5 that never was and it’s gonna break hearts”

WELL. Our cancelled project of the last 3 years is officially, truly dead as of today (internal attempts to save it failed), and the embargo on the whole body of portfolio work has been lifted.

RIP Project Dragon. Brace yourselves for the largest ever art bomb of work I loved 👁️
— Nicholas Kole (@FromHappyRock) July 13, 2024

Project Dragon was to be published by Phoenix Labs. In May the studio announced on LinkedIn that it would be reorganizing to focus on Dauntless and Fae Farm. The cancellation of Project Dragon was part of the restructuring.

Kole has been waiting for the embargo to lift before opening up about project details. The first post confirmed that Project Dragon would be “a cozy sandbox survival crafting multiplayer RPG”.

Alright, let’s start things off 😭

Project Dragon was a cosy sandbox survival crafting multiplayer rpg- a buildable world made of blocks inspired by minecraft filled with fantasy characters and quests inspired by breath of the wild, and I loved working on it dearly https://t.co/KFMnuDnsWb pic.twitter.com/ZD0bckDpnH
— Nicholas Kole (@FromHappyRock) July 14, 2024

Game cancellations are always upsetting, especially when the projects have so much potential. It is sad to see the loss of a new IP and Crash 5.

We look forward to learning more about Project Dragon, and the Crash 5 game we will never see.

Nicole Rodrigues-Galdo Contributor

Nicole grew up playing Halo since her father needed a co-op partner and handed her the Xbox Duke controller that was too big for her 5-year-old hands. Since then, she has graduated into the larger gaming space falling in love with every facet of the gaming experience. Her favorite games are Alan Wake (Remedy connected universe), BioShock Infinite, Lies of P, It Takes Two, Halo 3, and she should probably stop there otherwise this will go on forever.