Crash Bandicoot: On the Run Mobile Game Gets Release Date

Sony's once pseudo-mascot Crash Bandicoot has been getting a lot of attention lately, from a collection of classic remasters, to a brand new mainline entry. After a nearly decade-long hiatus, Activision has worked hard to bring the orange marsupial back into the limelight, most recently with the announcement that Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time will make its way to Nintendo Switch and next-gen platforms this month.

Additionally, Candy Crush Saga developer King Digital Entertainment has been hard at work on a Crash Bandicoot endless-runner mobile game in Crash Bandicoot: On the Run, which had previously been slated to release sometime in 2021. And although the game previously soft-launched in select Asian countries and had a placeholder launch window, an official release date has just been confirmed by King.

In a newly released trailer, King has announced that Crash Bandicoot: On the Run will launch worldwide later this month on March 25. The game will be available on iOS and Android devices, and the new trailer mentions that anyone who pre-registers for the game ahead of its release will receive a free Blue Hyena Crash skin at launch.

Previously, the iOS App Store provided an unofficial expected release date of March 25, 2021 for the new mobile game, and while things seemed up in the air for a bit, that is now set in stone. The trailer also shows off a new aspect of the game's multiplayer functionalities. Previously, King announced that players could team up to play with a friend, but this new trailer reveals that it looks like up to 3 players can enjoy Crash Bandicoot: On the Run together. This new mobile game seems like yet another effort by Activision to bring Crash back into the spotlight, so it will be interesting to see what else is planned for the character in the future.

Starting with remasters of the first Crash Bandicoot games with the N. Sane Trilogy back in 2017, it seems that Activision is intent on bringing the hyperactive marsupial back into the mainstream after a nearly 10-year-long hiatus between mainline series games. Now, fresh off of the release of the series' latest entry, Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, Activision and King are hard at work on a brand new Crash Bandicoot mobile game set to release next month.

Crash Bandicoot: On the Run! is a free-to-play endless runner mobile game in the same vein as popular games like Subway Surfers or Temple Run. The game will see Crash and co. venture through a variety of levels, both old and new, grabbing power-ups, crafting weapons, and collecting Wumpa Fruit, as they attempt to take down Doctor Neo Cortex once again. But although Crash Bandicoot: On the Run! will be free to play, it looks like the game won't include loot boxes of any sort.

In an Apple-hosted hands-off preview event for the upcoming mobile game, developer King engaged in a Q&A where it divulged a variety of details about Crash Bandicoot: On the Run!. During the Q&A, the developer revealed that while the game will feature over 100 different skins for Crash and Coco, there will be "absolutely no loot boxes at all."