Two thirds of the Spyro Reignited Trilogy are download only

Many nostalgic gamers are excited for the upcoming Spyro Reignited Trilogy developed for modern consoles by studio Toys for Bob. However, one aspect that the developers didn’t mention until recently via the game’s website was that the physical copies of the game will only contain the remaster of the original Spyro the Dragon. Players will have to download the other two games via a free update, as they are not available on the retail disc at release.

Those who wanted a physical copy have been unhappy about this, as many who buy physical editions do so to avoid having to download large file sizes. An Activision representative has responded to the complaints, however the statement doesn’t explain much.

“As with most games today, downloading an update after purchase is quite common. The language on packaging and on the web is to let players know the requirements for Spyro Reignited Trilogy”

It has been speculated that the reason for making the latter games in the trilogy digital is because they are still being worked on. Many games in annually-released sports titles have large content downloads due to tight development schedules. However, it is somewhat unusual for a game like this, especially considering how recently this news was announced. Similar recent remasters, such as the Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy, had all three games available on the disc/cartridge at release.

Hopefully, this does not signal that the game’s development is in trouble; the last thing Spyro needs is another Enter the Dragonfly-scale disaster of a launch. If the issue is a tight development schedule, however, it could suggest that later copies of the disc will have all three complete Spyro games on it. Hopefully the download size won’t be too onerous for players with data caps or slow download speeds.

The Spyro Reignited Trilogy releases for PS4, Xbox One and PC September 21.