Rise of the Tomb Raider Announced

[Squirrel Emperor]

Just announced at Microsoft's E314 press conference.

Press Release

REDWOOD CITY, CA (June 9, 2014) – Crystal Dynamics, a Square Enix studio, today announced its latest title in the critically acclaimed and award-winning Tomb Raider® series, Rise of the Tomb Raider ® . The game will redefine survival action in Holiday 2015.

In her first adventure, Lara Croft® was forged into a true survivor, but she glimpsed a deeper, secret world. In the next chapter of her journey, Lara must use her survival skills and wits, learn to trust new friends, and ultimately accept her destiny as the Tomb Raider.

“With the power of the new generation, and our proprietary Foundation engine, our high octane action moments will be even more epic. Multiple locations around the world will be filled with exploration spaces that are some of the most beautifully hostile places on earth and over three times larger than we could achieve before,” said Darrell Gallagher, Head of Product Development and Western Studios at Square Enix. “Our digital actors will rival CG quality, and after hearing the cry from our fans loud and clear, we will put the tombs back into Tomb Raider, all in our gritty Survival-Action style.”

Rise of the Tomb Raider builds upon the formula that made Tomb Raider a success, and features the return of Camilla Luddington as Lara Croft. Camilla will take character performance to new heights as Lara pushes herself beyond human limits and is confronted with what it means to become a hero. Once again, Crystal Dynamics is proud to have the award-winning author Rhianna Pratchett as a key member of the writing team, helping craft a story that delves into Lara’s inner turmoil and motivations in this critical second act of her journey.

 

[Fleur]

Just make sure that this time they send a word to the people in charge of the money that they probably shouldn't expect 5 billion sales in one quarter or anything.

I still need to get through the first one, but looking at the title of this, I surmise that this is where we're actually primarily raiding tombs.

 

[yeah_93]

Considering the first game's story was terrible IMO, I can't get excited for a CGI story trailer. Where is the gameplay?!

 

[Squirrel Emperor]

Concept Art

Game is on PC, XB1 and PS4.

 

[Azuardo]

New gen only. Thank god.

Embrace the snow. Love me some snow effects.

Hopefully this can really be the step into proper TR now, with tombs and grizzlies and tigers.

I wonder if a TR will bring back T-rexes in the future.

 

[Fleur]

I'd love to see a return of the mansion just for the kick of it. Sadly, I don't think it would be the ideal game in tone to be able to lock the butler constantly following you around in the freezer.

 

[Squirrel Emperor]

Tomb raider fans-I'm about to tweet a pic with an explanation to show you just how awesomely detailed/realistic the next game will be...

https://twitter.com/camilluddington/status/497429012176572418

#tombraider fans.This is #mova.Florescent paint that is sprayed all over my face 2give 7000 points of ref!!!"

https://twitter.com/camilluddington/status/497430078288953344/photo/1

Continued: it should be noted that normal mocap "dots" marked on a face are only 90 points ref... This means a MUCH more realistic capture

https://twitter.com/camilluddington/status/497430535782678528

Also "fun fact" you can only see the paint in a black light.

https://twitter.com/camilluddington/status/497430864108597248

 

[BladeRunner]

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2014/08/12/gamescom-2014-rise-of-the-tomb-raider-is-xbox-one-exclusive

Looks like it's an Xbox One exclusive now.

Well, I'm kinda pissed. Gonna miss you, Lara

 

[yeah_93]

Wait, I don't get it. Is it a timed exclusive? Either way, this is ridiculous.

 

[Azuardo]

There's no doubt in my mind it will be a timed exclusive, but for how long for, we don't know. This is likely another case of GTA4 and Mass Effect 1. Somehow, I can't see this being exclusive for years, but MS must have paid some serious dollar to get such a huge title exclusive on a seriously underperforming system.

Square's seen the money signs and not thought long term about this, in my view. Exclusives can kill developers, as seen with Crytek - especially given this is the Xbox One.

I, for one, am not happy in the slightest because I was really looking forward to this game, and I am not a fan of MS as a company and what they've tried to do in the past (and frankly, still do).

This is a completely different case to something like Nintendo actually funding dead games like Bayonetta 2 and Devil's Third - that is the sort of thing we want to see in the industry. But this is proof once more that SE is disregarding its fans and snatching the money whiffed in front of their noses.

Like I say, MS must have paid massively, because it seems like a poor decision to me, given the PS4's advantage.

Guess it's gonna be a long while before I play this game now. But at least the superior Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris is coming out in December. Actual tombs and shit. It also features a Lara Croft with a proper English VA and knows how to pronounce her own name correctly. And she looks better.

 

[yeah_93]

This sucks. I hope, whatever their strategy is, it backfires.

 

[Fleur]

To translate Darrell Gallagher's message into something more honest:

Dear Tomb Raider Community,

I know PC and PlayStation fans must be a bit pissed off at us for electing to make Rise of the Tomb Raider an Xbox exclusive all of a sudden. But Microsoft was kind enough to offer to make my wallet damn fatter, as well as other short-term benefits, so I had to give in to the seductive voice of Phil Spencer, and there was no other way. Even though it would make a shit tonne more sense to have it multi-platform as originally intended, which would allow us to reach a wider customer base, AND maintain good relations with them in the long run.

Don't worry! Non-Xboxers can still buy that other Tomb Raider game that will not be as cinematic as Rise of the Tomb Raider! And you can still buy the first game! Oh, don't fret, we'll probably give you this guy down the line a couple of years later as a complete edition or something.

Now if you excuse me, I'm off to count the vast sum of cash that has just been deposited into my account.

P.S. Microsoft *might* have wanted an Uncharted of their own, but pretend I didn't say that, shhhhhh!

<3 you all,

Darrell Gallagher
Crystal Dynamics Head of Studios

 

[yeah_93]

Users shinobi602 and CBOAT of NeoGAF are saying it's a timed exclusive. And SE's elusive wording in their statements pretty much confirms that.

 

[Azuardo]

Aye, I've no doubt. Just a question of how long for. MS would have paid CD and SE to keep their mouths shuts. They simply can't tell us how long it's for. We won't know until the deal's up. Same thing happened with Mass Effect and GTA.

Doesn't change the fact it's all bullshit.

 

[Squirrel Emperor]

Rats... I missed the meltdowns.

 

[Fleur]

In retrospect, my last post was harsh on Crystal Dynamics. It likely wasn't their fault, and it was up to the dictates of Square-Enix accepting the money hat that their game at its release will automatically lose ~2/3 of its audience.

First game, despite excellent sales, was deemed to have underperformed. Sequel game heavily restricts whoever can play it, at least until the inevitable PC and PS4 ports appear later down the line. Excellent decisions all round. This industry is great.

 

[Squirrel Emperor]

In a different thread, I said there was no reason to own both a Sony and Microsoft platform as they all basically offer the same content and it'd come down to exclusives.

Getting Rise of the Tomb Raider exclusive would have been a pretty big blow to PS4 and PC fans but at the same time a good reason to buy a XB1. Timed exclusive only works for the short term but that might be all Microsoft needs. They're not going down without a fight.

 

[Fleur]

I can just about see how Microsoft might theoretically benefit from this...even if it performs badly enough according to SE's own criteria that the money hat visibly ends up falling on its sword a bit. Microsoft have the seemingly infinitely deep pockets here.

But one has to wonder though, how much SE needed the Microsoft cheque. I thought they were largely out of the woods (or is it just the Japanese side that's doing well at the moment?), so it puzzles me why they would resort to such a short-term gain at the sacrifice of the longer-term prospects of the Tomb Raider IP.

 

[Azuardo]

It will benefit MS, but not so much Crystal D and SE, in my opinion. Although it's tough to say because we don't know exactly how much MS gave them; it could be a stupidly high sum. It has to be large enough for SE to give two middle fingers to their entire PC and PS fanbase - let's not forget this game was due for PS3, too - still a money maker. And, of course, after the lower than projected sales of the first game by SE's liking, this would undoubtedly perform even worse being just an Xbox exclusive now.

To actually not care about sales shows you how much MS must surely have thrown at SE.

Fuck the fans, fuck standards, fuck the long term and the fact that exclusives on Xbox One are a big risk right now - just take a good sniff of that cash and grab it while you can.

I'm disappointed, to say the least. I hope this doesn't have negative impacts in the long run for CD and SE. I mean, a part of me wants them to treat TR with more respect, but I don't want this hurting them badly or anything. I just can't help but think of how exclusives can have the opposite effect sometimes. The backlash is already proof of it, but we'll see just how many people really will buy an XBO just for this game when the time comes.

As much as I was looking forward to this game, however, I know I certainly won't be getting one. If anything, it's turned me off Xbox even more.

 

[Squirrel Emperor]

Perhaps the way Square Enix sees it is that it's basically free money. It'll still come to PS4 and PC and those who want to play it on those two platforms will buy the game. How many will actually refuse to buy it at that point?