It was much to the dismay of gamers that Square Enix announced that the upcoming Rise of the Tomb Raider title for next-gen systems would be exclusive to the Xbox One. We speculated in a video, seen below, what this would mean for the franchise and whether exclusivity—as a trend—was something bad for video games and gamers in general.
Today, Microsoft’s Phil Spencer has come out to confirm that the controversial exclusivity deal for Rise of the Tomb Raider “has a duration.” In other words, it’s a timed exclusive and that the game will eventually land on other platforms, including the PlayStation 4 and possibly the PC.
However, Spencer did not confirm for how long the duration is set.
Spencer compared the deal with Square Enix to Xbox One games like Dead Rising 3 and Ryse, both of which were timed exclusives—and have since been confirmed for release on the PC.
Spencer’s comments confirm that Square Enix is free to do whatever it wants with the game and the franchise after the exclusivity deal ends, including releasing the game on the PlayStation 4.
"When people want me to say, can you tell us when or if it's coming to other platforms, it's not my job," Spencer told Eurogamer. "My job is not to talk about games I don't own. I have a certain relationship on this version of Tomb Raider, which we announced, and I feel really good about our long term relationship with Crystal and Square.
"I get the reaction I see. If I'm a PlayStation person all of a sudden I feel like, the franchise has gone. I didn't buy the IP. I didn't buy the studio. It's not mine. Where this thing will go over time, just like Dead Rising or Ryse, we'll see what happens with the game. I don't own every iteration of Tomb Raider.
"I have Tomb Raider shipping next holiday exclusively on Xbox. It is Xbox 360 and Xbox One. I'm not trying to fake anybody out in terms of where this thing is. What they do with the franchise in the long run is not mine. I don't control it. So all I can talk about is the deal I have. I don't know where else Tomb Raider goes.
Spencer did not seem particularly pleased to answer the question on the game’s exclusivity, stating that he was unable to tell for how long the duration would last, except to say that it is not in perpetuity.
"Yes, the deal has a duration. I didn't buy it. I don't own the franchise."
