Rise of the Tomb Raider exclusivity addressed, skewered in new FAQ

By Adam Rosenberg August 24, 2014

rise tomb raider exclusivity addressed skewered new faq of the concept — Image used with permission by copyright holder

There’s been some dissatisfaction over Square Enix’s decision to make developer Crystal Dynamics’ Rise of the Tomb Raider an Xbox exclusive, and a newly released FAQ on the publisher’s Tomb Raider Tumblr attempts to address it. However, the tenor of the comments connected to the post suggests that the explanation isn’t enough.

Rise of the Tomb Raider‘s Xbox exclusivity was announced during Gamescom in August 2014 even though the game itself was revealed two months earlier at Microsoft’s E3 press conference. Exclusivity wasn’t mentioned in the initial reveal and the game wasn’t present in any other form at E3.

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One of the FAQ’s entries asks if the fans were considered when the exclusivity decision was made. It reads, “Are Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix aware of the franchise history with PlayStation and on PC?” The series’ first appearance on an Xbox machine was Tomb Raider: Legend in 2006, 10 years after the original game debuted on PC, PlayStation, and Sega’s Saturn console.

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“Of course,” the FAQ’s response reads. “We did not make this decision lightly. Our goal is to build the best game that we possibly can, and our relationship with Microsoft will help us realize our vision for the game.”

To that, commenter Joe Lind responds, “What good is realizing your vision for the game if the overwhelming majority of your fans cannot play it?” While “overwhelming majority” might be a bit hyperbolic, Lind raises a fair question about what console exclusivity means for the game’s vision when the result leaves a portion of the fanbase feeling left out.

The FAQ also makes it clear that Rise is specifically a holiday 2015 exclusive, though there’s no mention of plans to release the game for other platforms. The FAQ also doesn’t clear up the length of the exclusivity window; “We aren’t discussing details of the deal,” it reads.

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A new Tomb Raider game is in development on Unreal Engine 5

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At the end of Epic Games' The State of Unreal 2022 presentation, which marked the wide release of Unreal Engine 5 to all developers, Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider franchise general manager Dallas Dickinson confirmed the new project. No gameplay or in-engine development footage was shown, but Dickinson voiced his enthusiasm for using Unreal Engine 5 to create the project.
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https://twitter.com/tombraider/status/1511368712279904258
There are no new story or gameplay details. However, Crystal Dynamics has previously voiced its intention to connect the most recent trilogy and the classic titles with new Tomb Raider media. Outside of Tomb Raider, Crystal Dynamics is currently working on post-launch support for Marvel's Avengers and is assisting The Initiative in developing the next Perfect Dark game, which also uses Unreal Engine 5. Eidos Montreal, not Crystal Dynamics, actually developed Shadow of the Tomb Raider, so this marks the studio's return to the series.
The new Tomb Raider is one of several brand-new games that will use Unreal Engine 5, as many studios like Crystal Dynamics and The Witcher's CD Projekt Red have committed to using the game engine for their next titles. The new engine features notable improvements over Unreal Engine 4, namely its Lumen global illumination system and Nanite technology, allowing for increased geometric detail and fidelity.
It sounds like this new Tomb Raider is early in development, so it will likely be a while before we hear more about it. Hopefully, it's an awesome showcase of Unreal Engine 5's power when it launches, presumably only on current-gen platforms.

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