Crystal Dynamics and Microsoft have just announced that the latest installment in the Tomb Raider franchise, Rise of the Tomb Raider, is to be an Xbox One exclusive at Gamescom today.
The game was initially announced on the 9th June this year at E3 and will follow Lara as she becomes a more mature Tomb Raider, having suffered substantial psychological trauma after the events of 2013’s Tomb Raider reboot.
Darrell Gallagher, head of developer Crystal Dynamics, took to the game’s official Tumblr page shortly after the announcement to clarify any potential confusion or speculation that it will be a timed exclusive. “Our goal has always been to deliver something truly special with Rise of the Tomb Raider,” he wrote. WToday’s announcement with Microsoft is one step to help us put Tomb Raider on top of action adventure gaming. Our friends at Microsoft have always seen huge potential in Tomb Raider and have believed in our vision since our first unveil with them on their stage at E3 2011. We know they will get behind this game more than any support we have had from them in the past - we believe this will be a step to really forging the Tomb Raider brand as one of the biggest in gaming, with the help, belief and backing of a major partner like Microsoft.”
It’s a bold move by Microsoft, but one that will no doubt anger many players. Tomb Raider has always been a multi-platform franchise since its debut in 1995, so making the latest installment exclusive to a single system is almost certain to spark some angry comments by people on message boards and forums. For those people, Gallagher had the following to say: “This doesn’t mean that we’re walking away from our fans who only play on PlayStation or on PC. Those are great systems, with great partners, and amazing communities. We have Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris coming to those platforms this December, and Tomb Raider: The Definitive Edition is available on PS4.”
Another reason that the announcement will spark debate is due to the fact that publisher Square Enix previously stated it was unhappy with sales of last year’s game, so many will wonder why they’ve chosen to limit their potential audience this time around. We’ll be sure to keep a close eye on things and will report back as soon as we hear anything more on the matter.
Rise of the Tomb Raider is set for release on Xbox One in the Holiday period (that’s around Christmas, to the rest of us) in 2015.
