When Microsoft revealed Rise of the Tomb Raider to be an Xbox exclusive — albeit one with a duration — back at E3 last year, much of the gaming community questioned Crystal Dynamics’ decision to limit the initial release of the sequel to just two platforms. After all, Rise was riding a wave of goodwill following the studio’s bold and acclaimed reboot in 2013, so it’s understandable that many considered the strategy to be unorthodox.
However, in a recent interview with Game Informer as part of the outlet’s month-long coverage of the action-adventure title, Crystal Dynamics boss Darrell Gallagher touched upon the partnership with Microsoft. It’s understood that the Redmond-based software giant will handle publishing and marketing duties for the follow-up, and Gallagher denied suggestions that Rise of the Tomb Raider wouldn’t exist without Microsoft’s financial support.
“I wouldn’t say that,” he said. “If you look at Tomb Raider, it’s been around for 20 years, so I do think that Tomb Raider would still be around [without Microsoft].
“What we look at is how do we bring the best version of Tomb Raider to market? How do we actually make it as prominent as it can be? And there’s no doubt that having a first-party in Xbox, alongside, saying, ‘We want to help you make this great, we want to push this and get behind it, and love it in the same way as you guys do,’ there’s only benefits that can come from that.”
Further in the interview, the studio’s head honcho assured fans that this partnership didn’t materialize overnight, considering that studio and publisher have collaborated for the release of Tomb Raider Underworld and Guardian of Light over the past few years. As we alluded to earlier, this exclusivity deal has a duration, and though neither party has revealed the exact length of said partnership, we expect it to be for a period of twelve months.
Rise of the Tomb Raider will launch exclusively for Xbox One and Xbox 360 this holiday season. In the interim, you can share your own verdict on Gallagher’s comments down below.
