Square Enix Defend Rise Of The Tomb Raider’s Xbox Exclusivity

Square Enix have posted a Rise of the Tomb Raider FAQ in an attempt to ease some of the backlash from PlayStation and PC gamers.

It seems the legal department have carefully worded the statement and once again use the horrendous PR line about Microsoft being able to “help us realize our vision” line.

They also refuse to confirm that the game will be released on PlayStation and PC.

As for the reveal at Gamescom, which seemed to indicate Tomb Raider was completely exclusive rather than a timed exclusive , Square Enix say they “didn’t intend to cause any confusion with the announcement.”

It is quite amazing how a FAQ can be so carefully worded, but not a Gamescom reveal.

Here is the full FAQ.

What does exclusive to Xbox mean?
It means that Rise of the Tomb Raider is coming Holiday 2015 exclusively on Xbox One and Xbox 360.

Does the exclusive to Xbox have a duration? Is it timed? How long is the duration? Can we expect a PlayStation 4 or PC release in the future?
Yes, our deal with Microsoft has a duration. We aren’t discussing details of the deal, and are focused on delivering a great game on Xbox One and Xbox 360.

Did Crystal Dynamics know about this deal?
Yes, Crystal Dynamics is excited to be partnering with Microsoft to make the best game possible. As Darrell mentioned in his message, we have a long history with Microsoft and they have been a very strong supporter of the franchise. They will help us grow and nurture the Tomb Raider franchise more than ever before.

Were the fans considered when making this decision? Are Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix aware of the franchise history with PlayStation and on PC?
Of course. We did not make this decision lightly. Our goal is to build the best game that we possibly can, and our relationship with Microsoft will help us realize our vision for the game.

Why didn’t Microsoft, Square Enix or Crystal Dynamics say upfront it was a timed exclusive? Why all the indirect language?
We certainly didn’t intend to cause any confusion with the announcement. The Microsoft Gamescom stage was a great place to make the initial announcement, but not necessarily to go into details

Source: Official Tomb Raider Blog

22 Comments

  1. “Of course. We did not make this decision lightly. Our goal is to build the best game that we possibly can, and our relationship with Microsoft will help us realize our vision for the game.”

    Replace “relationship with” to “money from”.

    On the plus side, PS4 version should have all the bugs ironed out ready for launch. And at least we might get it in 1080p at 60fps.

    • Or they lower their target build quality so it’s initially 1080p60 on Xbone and then the more powerful machines have nowhere to go.

  2. There was simply no way they could put themselves in a good light with the original announcement. However, they’ve done it for money (as most things are in the industry) but they’ve also damned themselves. How much? Time will tell.

  3. So still not confirming Rise of the Tomb Raider is anything other than an XBox exclusive? Which is exactly the same as it was when they made the announcement, except there’s a possibility of any sequel coming to other platforms too.

    • I can’t help think that “Yes, our deal with Microsoft has a duration” means that we’ll see it eventually. Perhaps it’s just for the holiday season and we’ll see it in the New Year.

      • I doubt it, I would have thought the exclusivity would be a min of 6 months, 12 at the most.

      • There was talk earlier of it having a duration and not commenting on the future of the franchise. But that was the interview with the MS bloke on Eurogamer, so who knows what the real story is. Has any trustworthy site asked them the same questions?

        So it might be that this mysterious “duration” is “some number of months”, or “that one game”. There’s still nothing to suggest which it is, other than people hoping it’ll come to the PS4 eventually.

      • Let’s think about this logically. If people have a PS4 (and not an X1) then they’re stuffed. No matter what, they’re stuffed. However, if the “duration” is twelve months that means that other than a small percentage who will truly be annoyed enough to punish SE with a loss of sale, SE can still sell the new Tomb Raider title to a potential 20 million PS4 users. It will come out full price and be enjoyed accordingly.

        If they exclude it completely, MS will have had to give them a staggering amount of money, whereas, this is more of a “look at us, now” exercise in an attempt to build more momentum behind hardware sales of the X1.

        I can’t see it being any more or less than that. The duration, in light of Gazza’s comments feel more accurate. Maybe six months until the PS4 sees it.

      • I assume that the future of the franchise being MS exclusive will depend on how well it sells, if it doesn’t make the money or receive the response then Microsoft will not want to keep giving them money.

  4. It is as if they have ‘my lips are sealed’ charm on them when it comes to PS4 and PC. As if MS specifically told them they are not allowed to mention the other platforms. Not even passingly.

    (Playing The Wolf Among Uw right now – awesome experience)

    • They probably were offered a kicker to say nothing of any other platforms during (or before in this case) the exclusivity deal.

    • It will be in the contract that neither side can mention other versions.

  5. I’d have been surprised if they had announced it was eventually coming to PS4,Microsoft don’t want all those people waiting for it to come to PS4.

  6. I’m guessing its 6 months. Not revealing the the exact length of the deal is obviously because they want that uncertainty to translate to people buying it on 360 or xbone instead of waiting. Its not rocket science!

  7. I think I might actually dislike them even more now. Morons.

  8. GOTY, announced E3 for Ps4 / Pc.

    Put money on it.

  9. Not that bothered to be honest; I still haven’t finished the definitive edition. Not hyped for the sequel.

    What amazes me is that Microsoft spent all that money and then managed to completely mess up the announcement. This was supposed to be a PR coup but turned into the twatpocalypse.

  10. EA/CD made a poor decision for the greater Tomb Raider fanbase but now that they’ve had a second crack at explaining things and still have been unable to provide any clarity regarding the duration of exclusivity, it seems that Microsoft are still in control of the wording.
    I hope the next game has some proper tombraiding but i’ll probaby pick it up anyway on PS4. I’ll be steering clear of the isometric ‘filler’ game in the meantime.

    • I really don’t understand the secrecy. MS are coming across as a bunch of chinese whispering school girls and CD are even more pathetic. Can’t even talk about their own game… sure, they signed a contract but what the hell else is in there? Rights to their first born child? It wouldn’t have bothered me as much if they had been honest about it and announced that the game as ‘coming FIRST to XB1’ but the way they’ve been carrying on makes me angry. And with MS pulling the strings, I dread to think what they’ll do with the franchise. It will probably be the first ever first person, always online, 8 player co-op Tomb Raiding experience (and hopefully the last).

      Clearly there’s no love for Tomb Raider in the hacking community.

      • This happens a lot more than you would think. It was exactly the same with CoD DLC & a few other things that I can’t think of right now.

        Granted, apples & oranges as that was DLC where as this is a full game, but the principle is effectively the same. The thinking being that if people have solid news that a platform is getting something & no solid news on others, you are more likely to go for the definite one.

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