With the release of Tomb Raider‘s first multiplayer downloadable content yesterday on Xbox Live (the Caves and Cliffs Multiplayer Map Pack), many fans were starting to wonder if Crystal Dynamics was also planning to expand the game’s single-player experience with DLC. Speaking in a Reddit AMA, the game’s director Noah Hughes and global brand director Karl Stewart revealed some disappointing news for anyone hoping for a few extra DLC tombs to raid. As it stands now, all DLC efforts will be focused on Tomb Raider‘s mulitplayer mode.
“Currently there are no plans regarding single-player DLC,” Hughes stated when asked about the possibility of single-player DLC. “Now that Lara is more experienced, we are excited to take her on new adventures that challenge her new strength and confidence. It is important that even as Lara grows as a character, so do the challenges she must face.”
“There are currently no plans in place for any Single Player expansions,” Steward added, after a follow up question. “All of our DLC is based around the Multiplayer experience for now.”
Steward also later defended the decision to include a multiplayer mode in the traditionally single-player franchise, saying the idea actually came from within Crystal Dynamics.
“The decision to do a multiplayer actually came from Crystal. We truly believe that it was and is the right decision to make. We looked to the future of where MP is heading and made the call to begin the process of setting the foundations. Everyone has to start somewhere and this is our first time,” Steward explained. “We honestly believe that creating a multiplayer experience was and is the right thing to do. This is our very first attempt to create a MP experience and with that comes a lot of learning. We will continue to monitor and tweak the experience until we get it right.”
As a long time Tomb Raider fan, I’ve been generally very pleased with how the game turned out — especially in regards to Lara’s character development. Personally, I could have done with more complex puzzles in the optional tombs, and it would have been nice to hear that some harder DLC puzzles were on their way. I can’t say that I’m all that happy to hear that the current focus is on the game’s multiplayer mode.
Oh well, the content that is in Tomb Raider‘s single-player is solid, and that is all that really matters. Hopefully, it provides Crystal Dynamics with a new foundation for even greater things to come.
