Toys for Bob

TFB Games, Inc., doing business as Toys for Bob, is an American video game developer based in Novato, California. It was founded in 1989 by Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford. The studio is known for creating Star Control and the Skylanders franchise, as well as for working on the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro franchises. Toys for Bob began as a partnership between Reiche and Ford. The two had separately attended the University of California, Berkeley, in the late 1970s before entering the video game industry in the early 1980s. They later met through mutual friends in 1988, when Reiche was seeking a programmer to develop Star Control for Accolade. This led to the formation of their partnership in 1989 and the debut of Star Control in 1990. The release was considered a landmark science fiction game and led to the 1992 sequel Star Control II, which greatly expanded the series' story and scale. Star Control II is celebrated as one of the greatest video games in history and is featured on several "best of" lists for music, writing, world design, and character design. The studio adopted the name Toys for Bob to stimulate curiosity and differentiate themselves from other studios. With Crystal Dynamics as their publisher, they developed several games, including The Horde, Pandemonium!, and The Unholy War.