Who directed the original 1996 Crash Bandicoot game?

Jason Rubin directed the original 1996 Crash Bandicoot game. He co-founded Naughty Dog with Andy Gavin, and the pair led the project that introduced Crash to the PlayStation.

Rubin and Gavin conceived the game during a cross-country move from Boston to Los Angeles after studying the growing popularity of 3D arcade visuals. They wanted to adapt the character-based action-platform genre to three dimensions, eventually choosing Sony's PlayStation as their target.

The credit can be confusing because several other major developers appear in the game's credits. Andy Gavin was a programmer, David Siller was the producer assigned by Universal Interactive, and Mark Cerny represented Universal during the early business relationship. None of those roles changes Rubin's listed director credit.

Production began in October 1994, and the finished platform game was released in 1996. Its behind-the-character camera, crate-smashing levels and cartoon presentation helped establish Crash as a PlayStation mascot and made Naughty Dog a major studio.