Crash Bandicoot makes a surprise cameo in a United Airlines commercial.

After more than two years of silence, Crash Bandicoot has made a surprise cameo in a new United Airlines ad alongside Peppa Pig and Bumblebee.

You don't need to be reminded of this, but Xbox hasn't had the best of years. Starting in 2024, we've seen numerous layoffs, canceled projects, and confusing strategies from Microsoft, leaving many long-term Xbox fans worried about the future of the brand and all the franchises under it.

As worrying as it is for Halo and Fable, the real fear comes from the little series we were already able to see before the big changes. The biggest example is Crash Bandicoot's last big game, It's About Time, which failed to live up to expectations despite good sales, leading to a battle royale that literally no one asked for.

At least he is about time design.

Since Crash Team Rumble launched over two years ago, we've seen basically nothing, save for a recent Twitter bio change that had everyone speculating about the return of Crash Bandicoot. That return hasn't happened yet and likely won't happen for a while, but Crash himself has at least appeared for the first time in years.

As pointed out by Twitter user Canadianguyehh, a new United Airlines ad focused on adding Starlink Wi-Fi was shared on their Twitter account. The ads feature a variety of characters, from Bumblebee and Peppa Pig from Transformers to Orcs from World of Warcraft.

But the star of the cameo is Crash Bandicoot, who uses the It's About Time design and borders other characters. It's not clear why Crash is here beyond its connection to “live gaming,” but considering World of Warcraft is also shown, it's likely Microsoft was a partner in the ad.

It's not the Crash 5 announcement we were all hoping for, but it's at least proof that Microsoft remembers that it owns Crash Bandicoot. This is as close to good news for the series as we can get at the moment. I hope to see more specifics from the woodworking project in the future.