Crash Bandicoot (franchise)

The Crash Bandicoot franchise is a series of platforming video games originally developed by Naughty Dog for the. The first installment in the series, Crash Bandicoot, was released worldwide in 1996. The series was created by Naughty Dog co-founders Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin to compete with Nintendo's Mario franchise and Sega's  series, with the title character as Sony's mascot. The Crash Bandicoot franchise has sold over 50 million copies worldwide.

Throughout the series' life, the games have gone through multiple different gameplay and visual changes, due to the rights being held by numerous other companies and developers following Naughty Dog's departure from the series. In the original trilogy developed by Naughty Dog, Crash would run through multiple linear levels to reach the goal at the end, while breaking crates and collecting Wumpa Fruit which, when 100 of them are collected, grant Crash an extra life, and important items such as Crystals and Gems along the way. Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure and Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced would later share this gameplay style, albeit the latter two being in 2D rather than 3D. From Crash Twinsanity onwards, which was now published under Vivendi's Sierra Entertainment brand (both of which are now part of ), the levels would be more free-roaming and action-adventure-based as opposed to pure platforming. The franchise also spawned a few spin-offs which were either party-themed or racing-themed.

In 2007, all three original Crash Bandicoot titles were re-released on the 's PlayStation Network.

After the release of Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 2 on iOS, the Crash Bandicoot franchise entered a long hiatus. However, following rumors and speculation of a future installment in the series, Sony announced at E3 2016 a deal with Activision to develop full remakes of the original trilogy, the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy.