UPDATE: Xbox boss Phil Spencer has confirmed to Eurogamer that the Xbox exclusivity deal in place for Rise of the Tomb Raider “has a duration”, meaning it is a timed exclusive. He didn’t comment on how long that duration was, but fans can probably expect Lara Croft’s latest on PlayStation and PC at some point in 2016.
Spencer mentioned that the game will also make it to the Xbox 360. When asked about the nature of the exclusivity deal, he said, “I have Tomb Raider shipping next holiday exclusively on Xbox. It is Xbox 360 and Xbox One”.
Original: After initially being announced for PS4 and PC as well, Rise of the Tomb Raider is now an Xbox One exclusive.
The announcement was made today at Microsoft’s Gamescom briefing, and was reiterated by Crystal Dynamics’ Darrell Gallagher.
“Today’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,” said Gallgher.
Pre-empting dissent from PS4 and PC games, he added, “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.”
It seems a rather strange decision to launch a big-budget console game exclusively on one console in this industry environment, let alone on a console that is selling significantly less than its competitor. Add to that the sizeable audience lost on account of skipping a PC release.
Rise of the Tomb Raider releases towards the end of 2015, now exclusively on Xbox One.
Our take
We’d be very surprised if it stayed exclusive to Xbox One. The announcement and the deliberate wording from Microsoft seemed to hint that the game would be a timed exclusive, so we’d bet on Rise of the Tomb Raider arriving on PS4 and PC in 2016.