Earlier today, during Microsoft's gamescom briefing, Crystal Dynamics head of product development Darrell Gallagher announced that Rise of the Tomb Raider will be coming in holiday 2015 "exclusively on Xbox." It was a huge announcement that sent shock waves across the industry despite the vague, confusing messaging that went along with it.
Now that the dust has settled, we've got the official line that is Tomb Raider is an Xbox exclusive for holiday 2015. That last part is key because the ambiguity in the phrasing means PlayStation users may still see Rise of the Tomb Raider, just at a later date. I'm thinking it'll be released on PlayStaton platforms as well as PC in spring 2016.
Things start to get a little murkier when you head over to the Crystal Dynamics website. The phrasing they use seems to indicate that it could, in fact, only be coming to Xbox. Below are some of the key excerpts from the post. Make of it what you will.
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.
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.
Timed exclusives seem to be the popular release model with this generation as Microsoft and Sony continue to jockey for supremacy in the living room. It seems, however, that while publishers are open to the idea of timed exclusivity, they are shying away from releasing their game on just one platform. And given Square Enix's initial disappointment with Tomb Raider's sales, it's understandable why they'd want the sequel available on as many platforms as possible. I just hope the delayed PlayStation/PC release won't hurt sales.
