Last week’s Game Awards ceremony saw a slew of announcements. One of these games wasCrash Team Rumble- a 4v4, team-based multiplayer title that sees heroes and villains from theCrash Bandicootfranchise duke it out for supremacy in multiple arenas. The cross-platform game is set to release sometime next year and will adopt a pick-up-and-play style similar to many party experiences in the same vein.
Crash Team Rumbleshares the same art style asCrash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, with characters likethe interdimensional version of Tawnamaking an appearance. UnlikeCrash 4, this game seems to be focused on gameplay and little else. ConsideringCrash Team Rumbleis being marketed as a party game, Toys For Bob and Activision should consider making it a free-to-play title so that it stands up to its competition.
RELATED:Crash Team Rumble Multiplayer Game Coming Next Year
What Is Crash Team Rumble?
According to an Activision Games Blog,Crash Team Rumbleis a 4v4 multiplayer game that sees playerstaking on the roles of their favoriteCrash Bandicootcharacters, each of whom has their own strengths and weaknesses that players must utilize to dunk as many Wumpa fruits into their team’s bank as possible. The team with the most Wumpa fruit at the end of the match becomes the victor.
Crash Team Rumblewill also bring players to various themed arenas across theCrashuniverse, each with its own sets of challenges and obstacles to overcome. Based on the descriptions and the colorful announcement trailer, it can be safe to assume thatCrash Team Battlewill be a platforming game, perhaps with some MOBA elements.
Crash Team Rumble’s Multiplayer Competition
The biggest competitionCrash Team Battlecurrently faces isFall Guys.Fall Guysbecame a free-to-play titleon Jun 02, 2025, across multiple platforms, and has thus amassed quite a large fanbase. Thanks to the yearsFall Guysspent as a paid title, Mediatonic was able to add more features, modes, maps, and other content that improved the game and made it one of the best party experiences out there. SinceFall Guysis free and isn’t that taxing on players' systems, the barrier to entry is practically non-existent, making it easy to pick up for even novice gamers.
Aside fromFall Guys, other party platformer games include the likes ofGang Beasts,Overcooked, andHuman Fall Flat- titles that cost little-to-nothing at all. What makes these games so popular aside from their accessibility is that they all have unique gameplay elements.Those looking for a frantic cooking experience will loveOvercooked,while players that want a more battle royale-style game will gravitate towardFall Guys.
Making Crash Team Rumble a Paid Game is a Big Gamble
Should Toys For Bob and Activision decide to makeCrash Team Rumblea paid title (there’s a decent chance it will be given the publisher’s track record), they should first prove that the game is worth the price of admission.AddingCrash Bandicootcharacters into a half-baked platforming gameis a surefire way to lose fans. Modes should be fun, unique, and further improved upon once the game launches.
What they should not do is fill the game with microtransactions. This iswhat causedCrash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueledto stumble, on top of the fact that Beenox and Activision didn’t put enough post-launch support into the game to make it stand out from the competition. While it was a serviceable reimagining of the classic game,Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueledultimately broke players' trust.
If Toys For Bob finds it difficult tomakeCrash Team Rumblea unique party platformerthat doesn’t merely rely on its characters and settings, it should consider shifting the game to a free-to-play model. This would allowCrash Team Rumbleto compete against its low-priced rivals and establish a fanbase. As the number of players grows, it will be easier to push paid incentives like battle passes that can fund the continued development. This means more levels and modes to play, which in-turn makes players happy in the long run if handled well.
Crash Team Rumbleis set to release in 2023 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
