Tomb Raider, a franchise broadly synonymous with PlayStation, will see the first sequel to its successful 2013 reboot only on Xbox One. This exclusive bombshell was announced during Gamescom and ignited fan fury across the internet.
Whether or not Rise of the Tomb Raider is a timed exclusive doesn't matter. Tomb Raider is a multi-platform franchise. Presumably, Microsoft is bankrolling the development of the new game in the hope it'll go toe-to-toe with PS4 exclusive Uncharted 4: A Thief's End during holiday 2015.
In a blog post, Crystal Dynamics chief Darrell Gallagher said the company is trying to make “the most ambitious ‘Tomb Raider’ game ever built” and that “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.”
Other Tomb Raider games will still be released on the PlayStation and PC, including December’s Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris and Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition will not be disappearing from shelves.
It wouldn't be a stretch to imagine Microsoft adding Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition for Xbox One (updated to run at 1080p/60fps) to Games with Gold in the coming months.
Microsoft also detailed an update for Xbox One, which will bring multimedia feature parity with Xbox 360. A media player with USB device playback and DLNA support soon.
Are you annoyed Lara Croft has switched to Xbox? Let me know in the comments below.