Crash Team Rumble shares the same art style as Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, with characters like the interdimensional version of Tawna making an appearance. Unlike Crash 4, this game seems to be focused on gameplay and little else. Considering Crash Team Rumble is 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 Rumble is a 4v4 multiplayer game that sees players taking on the roles of their favorite Crash Bandicoot characters, 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 Rumble will also bring players to various themed arenas across the Crash universe, 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 that Crash Team Battle will be a platforming game, perhaps with some MOBA elements.

Crash Team Rumble’s Multiplayer Competition

The biggest competition Crash Team Battle currently faces is Fall Guys. Fall Guys became a free-to-play title on June 21, 2022, across multiple platforms, and has thus amassed quite a large fanbase. Thanks to the years Fall Guys spent 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. Since Fall Guys is 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 from Fall Guys, other party platformer games include the likes of Gang Beasts, Overcooked, and Human 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 love Overcooked, while players that want a more battle royale-style game will gravitate toward Fall Guys.

Making Crash Team Rumble a Paid Game is a Big Gamble

Should Toys For Bob and Activision decide to make Crash Team Rumble a 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. Adding Crash Bandicoot characters into a half-baked platforming game is 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 is what caused Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled to 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-Fueled ultimately broke players’ trust.

If Toys For Bob finds it difficult to make Crash Team Rumble a unique party platformer that doesn’t merely rely on its characters and settings, it should consider shifting the game to a free-to-play model. This would allow Crash Team Rumble to 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 Rumble is set to release in 2023 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

MORE: 10 Best Double Jumps in Games