New Tomb Raider Game is as Certain as Ever, Reveal Looms

The development of the new Tomb Raider looks more certain and focused than ever despite a massive blow ahead of its rumoured reveal.

The first Tomb Raider game arrived nearly three decades ago in 1996, developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. To say that the first adventures of Lara Croft were revolutionary would be an understatement, and that’s still putting it mildly.

Not only did Tomb Raider give us a sense of adventure akin to the likes of Indiana Jones, packed with action, exploration, discovery and conspiracy, Lara Croft became a pop culture phenomenon for years to come. Since those times, for better or worse, the Tomb Raider franchise has evolved a lot, and its ownership rights have been passed around from pillar to post. Right now, Crystal Dynamics is its developer, and the rights are owned by Embracer Group.

In 2022, Crystal Dynamics announced that a new Tomb Raider game is in the works and it will be powered by Unreal Engine 5. There have been rumours that it could be a brand-new story or even a new remake of the original game. Speaking of which, the original Tomb Raider remake is coming to PlayStation 5.

Rise of the Tomb Raider, Microsoft Studios/Square Enix

Crystal Dynamics hit with lay-offs

Unfortunately, we’ve not heard all that much about the new Tomb Raider release recently, but that might be about to change, despite Crystal Dynamics having a heavy round of lay-offs.

In a LinkedIn post this week, Crystal Dynamics announced that just under 30 members of staff were made redundant “across various departments and projects” following a company restructure.

“Crystal deeply thanks all of those impacted for their incredible talent, hard work, and dedication, which helped shape the studio in so many ways,” read the statement. “We are committed to offering our fullest resources and support to you during this transition.”

However, in relation to the new Tomb Raider, there was some good news, at least.

“To our players - as the realities of the industry continue to evolve, we've made these painful choices as a way to optimise the continued development of our flagship Tomb Raider game, as well as shaping the rest of the studio to make new games for the future,” the statement continued.

With Crystal Dynamics still focusing on the new Tomb Raider, and The Game Awards just under a month away, fans have been speculating that we might finally get to see the new Tomb Raider game in action.

“Announcement at The Game Awards?” said ilovemyamily1 in a Tomb Raider sub-Reddit, sharing a screengrab featuring plans of a Prime Video reveal at the ceremony.

Of course, Prime Video is owned by Amazon. What’s more, currently Amazon has the rights to publish the next video game, as well as the rights to a movie and TV production with a new Lara Croft recently being cast.

While there is some optimism in the Reddit thread about seeing Tomb Raider at The Game Awards, there is also a great deal of scepticism, and I’m not surprised. We all hope that our favourite franchises will get new games announced, but more often than not, we’re usually left feeling disappointed.

I think it’s important not to go into The Game Awards with high expectations, because the chances are that we won't get all the announcements we hope to see or anything close to that.

That being said, IF a new Tomb Raider is revealed, we’ll be sure to update you when that happens.