#GAMESCOM2014 – Rise Of The Tomb Raider – Is An Xbox One Exclusive & Causes Uproar!
It was confirmed via the Xbox Gamescom conference that surprisingly Rise of the Tomb Raider will be an Xbox One exclusive. This as you can imagine hasn’t gone down well with PC or PS4 owners, especially considering at E3 this year, it was originally announced as coming to the PC, PS4 AND Xbox One. While sales figures we’re lower than expected for the initial release of the rebooted Tomb Raider released on the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2013, the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition sales on the PS4 out sold that of the Xbox One, which makes this u-turn all the more disappointing.
I can understand the decision if Square Enix and Crystal Dynamic’s were seriously struggling financially and this was a tactic to allow them to exist, which I truly get. But ending the Playstation partnership with such a big and well loved franchise is still sad news within the gaming industry. Yeah ok we still get Lara Croft and The Temple of Osiris, but it’s not really the same is it?
There is still a small hope that Rise of the Tomb Raider will come to the PS4 and PC one day and most of us hope that this partnership with Xbox is a timed exclusive, but the Head of Crystal Dynamics Darrell Gallagher said some words on tumblr that will surely not put Playstation and PC fans at ease.
As you may have seen, we’ve just announced that Rise of the Tomb Raider, coming Holiday 2015, is exclusively on Xbox. We consider all of you to be the lifeblood of Tomb Raider and the work we do at Crystal. I’d like to give you some insight into this decision, and why we feel this is the very best thing for the Tomb Raider sequel we’re creating at the studio.
Tomb Raider in 2013 was a success due in large part to your continued support. Our goal has always been to deliver something truly special with Rise of the Tomb Raider. 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. 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.
Editor’s note – “We know they will get behind this game” (translation), they paid us a bucket load of cash.
When speaking of fans that have supported the Tomb Raider franchise for many years, that do not own an Xbox One he stated:
Editor’s note – In other words what he’s saying above, is that “yeah sure, I know many of our fans will be pissed and feel cheated somewhat, but at least you get the Tomb Raider spin-off”. Yeah thanks Crystal Dynamics all is forgiven I’m sure.
- Lara Croft and The Temple of Osiris will release for the PC, PS4 and Xbox One on December 9th.
In the best case scenario PC and Playstation fans can hope that Rise of the Tomb Raider releases on those formats in some kind of Game of the Year Edition, but even then you’d be looking at a 2016 release if you’re lucky.
It seems that even the Official Playstation Magazine was in the dark regarding the “exclusive” announcement and they seem to share my small amount of optimism in the hope that this will be a timed exclusive.
This is what they posted on their Facebook page:
The press conference slides during the announcement read “Coming holiday 2015, exclusively on Xbox”. Now, if you’re supping from a big ol’ mug of optimism, you could really focus on that ‘holiday 2015’ part and read ‘timed-exclusive’. It’s certainly not beyond the realms of possibility Rise Of The Tomb Raider could yet come to PS4 at some point in 2016, either in its original form or as part of a ‘Definitive Edition’, similar to Tomb Raider’s PS4 release this year. We’ve asked Square for clarity on this point and will let you know when we hear back.
They also then shared much of the gaming community’s frustration in response to that Crystal Dynamic statement trying to reassure non Xbox One owning fans that at least we have The Temple of Osiris to look forward too; this is what they’ve said:
But what is really interesting is that with Rise of the Tomb Raider releasing at the very end of 2015, it will possibly be put it in the same window as a genuine Playstation 4 exclusive with Uncharted: A Thief’s End. Now that will be one hell of a battle and I can’t wait to play both games.
Also even though I do own an Xbox One (as well as a PS4), I know what the Tomb Raider series means to the gaming community and how much we love it. I’m sure it will come to nothing, but heck, there’s nothing to lose. Doing the rounds at the moment is a Change.Org petition in the small hope that Square Enix and Crystal Dynamic’s will go back to their original plan of bringing Rise of the Tomb Raider to the PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
You can find that petition HERE. Let’s hope the gaming Gods favour us all.