A tweet from the official Tomb Raider account has confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt that we’ll be seeing a new game rather soon. In it, publisher Square Enix mentions “a major event” coming in 2018 which will be “Lara Croft’s defining adventure”. This is consistent with rumours which hinted at a 2018 release, but there’s something else about the tweet astute readers may notice.
As independent game historian Liam Robertson points out, the capital letter of each new sentence spells ‘shadow’. While this hieroglyphic approach of message delivery is tonally appropriate for the Tomb Raider franchise, it also validates leaks about the title of the newest iteration, which was first hinted at when a commuter noticed a presentation labelled Shadow of the Tomb Raider on the subway.
So far, Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics have kept relatively quiet about any substantial details. To that effect we’re not certain if Crystal Dynamics (responsible for all the games since Tomb Raider: Legend) will be returning to the development helm for Shadow, or whether Camilla Luddington will reprise her role as Lara Croft. In January, lead writer for Tomb Raider and Rise of the Tomb Raider Rhianna Pratchett said she would be departing from the franchise to seek out “new adventures”.
Tomb Raider fans are eager for the latest game to return to the roots of the series and focus more on puzzles rather than combat.