Crystal Dynamics Teases Reveal of New Tomb Raider Game Next Year
In its recent earnings call, Crystal Dynamics teased two of the most iconic franchises, a possible revival of the Legacy of Kain series that has been dormant for almost two decades. Still, the recent overwhelming response to the Legacy of Kain survey might change the franchise’s fate.
Other than that, Crystal Dynamics’ CEO Phil Rogers also teased the potential reveal of the next Tomb Raider game sometime in 2023. When he was asked about the next iteration in the Tomb Raider series, he stated:
We’ve not released details about franchise plans, but the team is excited to show where we’re heading, as soon as we can next year.”
This statement hints at a possible reveal of the next Tomb Raider game next year. First, for a bit of background, Crystal Dynamics at Epic Games’ State of Unreal 2022 has already confirmed that the studio is working on the next Tomb Raider game powered by the latest technology, Unreal Engine 5.
As stated by Dallas Dickinson, executive producer and general manager of the Tomb Raider franchise at the Unreal Event, the goal of the studio with the next Tomb Raider game is to take things to the next level and “push the envelope of fidelity and to deliver the high-quality cinematic action-adventure experience that fans deserve from both Crystal Dynamics and the Tomb Raider franchise.”
Undoubtedly, Crystal Dynamics is the studio that revived the Tomb Raider franchise in the past after the failure of The Angel of Darkness, the sixth entry in the series, which was developed by Core Design. Core Design studio laid the foundations of the franchise in 1996. But Crystal Dynamics took charge after the release of Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness in 2003.
Then, Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Interactive rebooted the series with Tomb Raider: Legend in 2006, the game was a commercial and critical success, with critics appreciating the new direction and art style of the game, and it managed to sell over 6.4 million copies worldwide as revealed in June 2021.
So, Crystal Dynamics has been the series’ primary developer since then. However, the latest entry, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, was developed by Eidos-Montréal and published by Square Enix’s European subsidiary. Still, the game was well received by the fans of the franchise, and it was also critically praised, and it managed to sell over 8.9 million copies worldwide as of December 2021.
Fans are excited as Crystal Dynamics again takes the lead in developing the next game. The studio also has a lot of choices to take the game completely into a new direction rather than continuing the story from its predecessor, and that’s what Phil has hinted towards as he said the team is excited to reveal more details about the game. And he is happy with what they have been able to achieve with the new Tomb Raider game.
It will be interesting to see what Crystal Dynamics stores for the fans. We will keep you posted upon receiving any further information about the game. So, What are your thoughts about this? Are you excited to learn more about the next Tomb Raider game? Let us know in the comment section below.
