After a prolonged period of silence regarding the small print of Microsoft’s timed-exclusivity deal for Rise of the Tomb Raider, Square Enix has today confirmed that the hotly-anticipated sequel will make the jump from Xbox platforms onto PC first in early 2016, before launching for PlayStation 4 in holiday 2016.
While the publisher didn’t specify an exact date for either version, Lara Croft’s latest globe-trotting affair will rappel onto PC first because “the game will be a console exclusive to Xbox One and Xbox 360 for one year after its initial launch.” As such, given that Rise of the Tomb Raider has been pegged for debut on Microsoft’s platforms on November 10, don’t expect Crystal Dynamics’ sequel to launch on Sony’s platforms until November 2016 at the earliest.
It’s unclear exactly why both Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics sat on the announcement for other platforms for so long, though it certainly irked those who played the 2013 reboot on either PC or PlayStation systems. Back when the exclusivity partnership was first announced, Crystal Studio Head Darrell Gallagher issued the following statement.
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.
Despite rave reviews, the studio’s bold Tomb Raider retelling was deemed to be financially underwhelming by Square Enix, and it’s likely that the Japanese publisher turned to Microsoft for funding in order to leverage development costs. Such an approach may benefit Xbox One and Xbox 360 owners in the interim, but it becomes frustrating when publishers and platform holders scramble to secure as much third-party content as possible simply to drive hardware sales.
Rise of the Tomb Raider will make its debut across Xbox One and Xbox 360 on November 10, before launching across PC and PS4 in early 2016 and holiday 2016, respectively.
