It’s been revealed that the new Tomb Raider game will be published by Amazon Games. The as-yet-untitled Tomb Raider title is currently in development at Crystal Dynamics. The studio has a long relationship with the iconic Tomb Raider franchise, but this marks the first step in a new direction for Lara Croft’s adventures. At least in terms of publishing, that is.
Amazon Games made the announcement via a press release today, explaining that it will be lending its “full support” to Crystal Dynamics as the studio strives to bring its vision for the new Tomb Raider title to life. Christoph Hartmann, Vice President at Amazon Games, shared the publisher’s enthusiasm for the project. “Amazon Games is committed to bringing players games of the highest quality, from the best developers, across all variety of platforms and genres, and we’re honoured by the opportunity to work with this storied developer and franchise,” he explains. Hartmann continues, adding “our team is incredibly excited about collaborating with the talented and visionary Crystal Dynamics team to bring the next chapter of Lara Croft’s saga to players around the world.”
Scot Amos, head of studio at Crystal Dynamics also spoke about the partnership, explaining that the deal will allow Crystal Dynamics to “redefine what a publishing relationship is for Tomb Raider,” following the studio’s acquisition by the Embracer Group earlier this year. “Transformative is what we’re looking for,” Amos adds, “and with Amazon Games, we found a team that shares our creative vision, ambitions, and values for a Lara Croft universe across the spectrum of possibilities.”
The new chapter in the Tomb Raider story was revealed to be in the pipeline earlier this year, to the delight of the franchise’s fanbase. While there’s still not a huge amount to go on in terms of details and storyline for the new game, it’s expected to be a follow-up or continuation of the story that wrapped up in 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The new game is also being built for a new generation and is being developed in Unreal Engine 5. There’ll be no platform exclusivity either, as the new Tomb Raider will be a multiplatform title with a strong narrative-based adventure at its core.
As for further details on what the new game entails, it’s thought that the title will work to tie up a number of narrative-based loose ends from previous instalments. Further than that, we’ll just have to wait and see as the game continues down the development pathway.