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The Guinness World Records have just awarded Tomb Raider protagonist Lara Croft for setting two world records, branding her as the ultimate videogame heroine.
Most Magazine Covers For A Video Game Character
They explained this award with this statement:
At the most recent official count in April this year, Lara had been a cover girl 2,300 times, including titles like Newsweek and TIME – a sign of how broader culture has grown to recognize videogames as a medium to take seriously.
And of course, Lara now features on the cover of the Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition 2026, too!
Interestingly, Lara also received this award in 2016, when Square Enix was still Tomb Raider’s publisher and IP owner. Nearly a decade ago, she earned 1,230 magazine covers.
Of course, it helps Lara that she has had one animated series and two feature films, one starring superstar Angelina Jolie. Between Jolie and Vikander, Lara’s presence on the printed page burst past video games to the film and TV magazine fandom.
The Best-Selling Videogame Heroine
Guiness shares this description of this award:
Since Lara’s debut shook up what we thought a gaming hero could be, nearly 30 years ago, the Tomb Raider series has grown into an impressive list of 11 more entries in the main series, plus spin-offs and mobile games.
These have sold a staggering 100 million units combined, putting our Lady Croft way out ahead of her competition.
While Lara clearly had a lead over other leading ladies, this is a harder feat to achieve in 2025. Between The Last Of Us’ Ellie, Resident Evil’s Claire Redfield and Jill Valentine, and South of Midnight’s Hazel, there’s no lack of new women who are vying for the crown.
But then we should also acknowledge the games where you can choose to play multiple characters, men and women alike. From Borderlands, Street Fighter, Overwatch, to Fortnite, there’s no lack of games for women to be themselves.
They just happen to not be eligible for this particular Guinness World Record.
What’s Next For Lara?
We’re basically still waiting for the Tomb Raider game that was announced all the way back in 2022. While Embracer remains the IP owner, Amazon licensed the IP for a huge media mix campaign.
This means that Amazon Games will be publishing the next game, but that’s still all that we know. It’s clear that Crystal Dynamics is making the game right now, but we’re essentially still in the dark on this project.
Hopefully, Amazon, Embracer, and Crystal Dynamics will have some good news sometime soon.
