It looks like the main Tomb Raider franchise will not be appearing on PlayStation or Nintendo for quite a while as it has been revealed that Microsoft, not Square Enix, will be publishing next year’s instalment, Rise of the Tomb Raider.
@diosmekemeke Yes we are publishing Rise of the Tomb Raider.
— Aaron Greenberg (@aarongreenberg) December 8, 2014
Microsoft’s Phil Spencer had said that “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.”
He also added “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.Yes, the deal has a duration. I didn’t buy it. I don’t own the franchise.”
It was thought the game would be Xbox exclusive for the holidays and appear on PlayStation a short while after but with Microsoft taking publishing duties the duration will almost certainly be longer than the few months of Christmas 2015, I would guess the deal will last at least a year, possibly more. Mass Effect, an EA game originally published by Microsoft took five years to land on PlayStation.
With the news of the publishing deal Phil Spencer’s words look rather more ambiguous that they did four months ago, he refers to the Tomb Raider franchise, not Rise of the Tomb Raider specifically.
Square Enix also released a statement at the time of the reveal, saying “Yes, our deal with Microsoft has a duration. We aren’t discussing details of the deal.”
Source: Twitter
mclarenrob2
Well that is a real shame for gamers across the board, and it’s one of the many reasons I chose to buy a PS4 first this gen.
Androidguy
Why is it a shame that Rise of Tomb Raider will be released? we lucky that it will be realised and not abandoned don’t you think ?
Forrest_01
I don’t believe that is what they are saying at all – I think they are referring to the exclusivity & things being locked off to you depending on the console of choice.
There are many many examples at the moment & this lack of parity across the board is becoming a little tiring.
cam_manutd
In the face of Uncharted, Tomb Raider will have to be spectacular to gain any sort of ground from PS owners. It could be very good kudos for the reboot being more than worthwhile.
Because of Uncharted, I don’t think PS owners should be too fussed. Granted TR fans on PS will be gutted but I feel for PC gamers more as its a franchise that has belonged on that platform.
Been a better year for Microsoft but in order to develop momentum I think they need to seek studios not lucrative franchises with short-term exclusivity deals. The fact that Sony have Naughty Dog, Santa Monica, Sucker Punch, From Software (mostly), Polyphony Digital as well as all the exclusive franchises Sony own mean the diversity is there.
Kennykazey
Microsoft is trying to build some studios though, see Black Tusk and that handful announced earlier this year. Problem is, it takes time to go from opening a new studio to having a finished product, and so in the meantime they’ve got to fill the slots somehow.
cam_manutd
I agree they are starting to put some effort in. Its just the diversity of games on offer and also what games will be produced that will appeal far & wide not just to English speaking territories.
Starman
Well Ps4 has got Street Fighter & Uncharted so can’t complain too much.
Androidguy
Street Fighter haven’t got the following as it used to have nowadays it’s just an squired taste to the gamers nothing more Final Fantasy series is much more important and by the Look of the media reports Square Enix Is in bed with Microsoft It explains why Sony Sold 9.52 million Square Enix Shares valued at $150 million Sony Sold it’s shares because of Microsoft and Square Enix co-operation Plus Sony needs the money due to Sony current Financial meltdown
Lieutenant Fatman
So Microsoft gets Tomb Raider and Sony gets Street Fighter. Things are starting to heat up it seems, is this a trend that is likely to continue. Capcom is struggling to break even at the moment apparently, could we see Microsoft try to buy them out?
Androidguy
Most Likely Microsoft Will buy out Square Enix Because of they good Friendship or at least % of Square Enix shares Currently Square Enix is in process of Top Management shake up and The company is not doing well with the Financial side either Microsoft can help.
MrYd
Who really thought (or still thinks) it’d ever come to the PS4? MS said it was an XBox exclusive and then the deal was for that one game and Squeenix still own the franchise.
It was just some people desperately hoping a sequel to an average game would come to the PS4, or just assuming everything MS say is a lie (which at least has some precedent). It’s kind of funny watching people twist the words to mean something that (a) they could possibly mean, if you read them in a really awkward way, and (b) they probably don’t mean.
Starman
“average game”, really? It was one of the most acclaimed games in a long while and reinvigorated the series. Plus it scores highly on metacritic.
Forrest_01
Yeah, it was a great game. Much better than the ever-stagnating gameplay of Uncharted IMO.
Kinda sad that the sequel may not see the light of day on my console of choice, but I’ll get over it.
MrYd
Well, if you want to bring metacritic into it…
It’s got 87 and 85 for the PS3/4 versions. I’m assuming that since 70something is apparently a disaster these days, anything in the 80s must be fairly average. It’s 23rd out of 62 PS4 games rated there.
Also, weren’t Squeenix a bit unhappy with the sales? A sequel might have been a long way off until MS turned up with a big pile of cash.
But really, it was just a very nice looking game that had the Tomb Raider name slapped on it. Distinct lack of any actual Tomb Raiding going on. The name probably helped while being a disappointment too. Same thing happened when someone decided to slap the Assassin’s Creed name and characters onto some piratey nonsense. Made a reasonably nice game more tempting while being a bit disappointing as an AC game.
bunimomike
It was a cracking game. On of my favourites over the past 24 months. Everyone (who’s actually grown-up about Metacritic) knows some gems on there that score in the 70s. Metacritic is an indicator and nothing more than that.
A good portion of the media mentioned how their initial sales forecast was ambitious considering how many it had to sell to break even. Sure, it’s good to see quality production with any given title but at what cost? Well, this time… almost at the cost of the franchise.
Keep in mind that I really didn’t mind if the franchise returned or not but my SO (Hannypoppie) and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Starman
For future reference the official Starman scoring is as follows –
7/10 Good
8/10 Great
9/10 Excellent
10/10 Warhawk 2
bunimomike
Mine isn’t far off but I’ll go with reverse ordering:
10/10 – Unmissable. Don’t be a tool… get it now.
9/10 – Excellent. What’s a point between friends.
8/10 – Very good. Possibly wait for a sale to pick up.
7/10 – Good but check into where the points have been lost to make sure it’s worth my time.
6/10 – Really need to love the genre if you’re dipping into this.
5/10 – Swing and a miss. I don’t have time to play any truly average games.
4/10 – This could end the studio. Not even a bargain bin will save this.
3/10 – Learn from this or your first born will be sacrificed to appease the gaming gods.
2/10 – That table doesn’t wobble any more. Thanks for that.
1/10 – Might I suggest a job on a farm instead? You appear to be an expert in shovelling shit.
0/10 – Beaten to death with copies of your game. All siblings and offspring are sterilised. Your body will then be pulped into lubricant for Mick Hucknall to use next time he masturbates.
cam_manutd
@Starman-Warhawk 2 scoring made me laugh. Damnit why isn’t that a thing? I would be all over that.
Imo Uncharted is better than Tomb Raider because its just that more fresh, fun, laid back and exhilarating. Tomb Raider is more serious and focused on exploration than story (not going of the reboot because I have not played it yet-still in the PS+ backlog but going off….Underworld here lol).
double-o-dave
At Bunimo…
On a serious note I think the 7/10 is spot on.
On a more serious note, 0/10 should be compulsory.
cam_manutd
@Bunimo-truth has never been told better.
Starman
@Mike 3/10 is maybe a little harsh but understandable!
@Cam yes, Warhawk 2 would have me getting a PS4 purely for that, I’d probably play nothing else for months anyway!
Old School
I enjoyed Tomb Raider, best one in a long time. I’ll get it in the Xbox One and when it finally comes to PS4 I’ll get it on that because let’s face it, it’ll look and play better.
“ever stagnant gameplay of Uncharted”?
The hell are you smoking?
Forrest_01
Ok, I’ll bite – Basically, every Uncharted up until now has used & reused the same formula;
1. Big set piece that impresses the first time it is played
2. Shoot some generic enemies whilst retreating behind cover
3. Do a bit of exploring/platforming & picking up of collectibles
Rinse & repeat until inevitable end game QTE boss fight.
The first one was good as it was a new thing. The second one was good because it had a better story, better set pieces & better characters. The third one was pretty much just more of the same & really didn’t hit the mark for me.
I note from a recent article that they are trying to address these issues for the fourth instalment, but for me, UC3 just wasn’t very good so they would need to do a lot to bring me back.
TR on the other hand just took a well known game & flipped it on its head with a decent origins story & it just all felt fresher to me.
Granted, I may feel the same way about that come the third instalment of the TR reboot. If I ever get to play it of course (maybe Nintendo will have exclusivity rights on the third one, who knows??).
Additionally, I realise this is only my opinion (hence the IMO in my initial post), but I think I am allowed one. :)
Old School
That’s cool. Definitely not rated as high and didn’t win as many GOTY awards.
cam_manutd
@Forest-your own opinion? How dare you. No gamer is entitled to their own opinion despite offering.
Haha I am a big Uncharted fan but I must admit in the third one, there was some ‘obvious’ enemy wave checkpoints which sorta distorted the flow of the game at points and I hope that improves. The gameplay trailer showed some subtle distinct differences and I hope its like that across all enemy encounters.
double-o-dave
Seeming there’s a lot of comparing TR to Uncharted I’ll have my quick little say…
TR didn’t do a lot for me. In no way am I saying it was a bad game but I remember someone saying it was like a poor mans Uncharted, & i kind of agree. The game was certainly pretty but it just seems to lack a certain spark for some reason.
When I play Uncharted games I get excited finding & wanting to go exploring for treasures, but with TR it was like… Oh, another treasure… next. Stumbling across a hidden cave didn’t excite me either and I couldn’t be bothered to go exploring around half the levels finding myself just heading to the checkpoints.
The story wasn’t bad but just didn’t grip me whereas somehow Naughty Dog seem to have mastered the knack of storytelling.
It would be nice to see Lara on the PS4 but it’s more of a nostalgia thing for me as I really don’t think the last entry stood up to an Uncharted game.
TSBonyman
No worries, there will be plenty to keep us going while we wait for it to inevitably arrive on PS4.
JR.
I was outraged (yes, outraged) when this news was announced but I bought an XB1 on black friday so at least I don’t feel so bad about it now. I’m still annoyed for the people who wont get to play Tomb Raider. Not because it’s potentially a very good sequel to a fantastic reboot, but for all the loyal Tomb Raider fans who have supported the franchise over the years on Playstation/PC platforms. The people who don’t care if it’s good or crap, who just buy it because it’s Tomb Raider.
I think the situation could have been less insulting had Microsoft not been so arrogant and misleading with their announcement. It seemed like they were more interested in getting one up on the competition rather than them wanting to do something great for the franchise. Screw the fans. But that’s just Microsoft for you.
bunimomike
To correct your last sentence: “but that’s business for you”.
Whether it’s unscrupulous or not, Sony and Microsoft are out to look after themselves. Sometimes Sony appear to be doing a better job of things but other times, they’re complete buffoons.
cam_manutd
With bunimo on this. Having been a PS gamer for 15 years, sometimes we get great exclusives and other times some slip away. You play the hand your dealt.
I guess a good thing for gamers all round is the number of third party exclusives is dwindling. MGS, FF, Mass Effect, Bioshock all examples.
OneShotWook
Taking the console market out of the equation no one has come close to the corporate sharks M$ have been since they first rebadged apples gui for the Pc market.In fact console wise their image is pretty damned good considering what their history has been.
From the Netscape scandal right up and past them taking the US government to court to avoid being held culpable when the Northman leaks revealed the extent of private citizens information they were logging and handing over to multiple sources.This is a company that is not just ‘doing’ business.
Currently i think in the gaming market they are good for competition but are they good for gaming? of that i guess we’ll have no say in the matter.
bunimomike
Agreed about how low the tactics appear to stoop sometimes. Sad, really.
beeje13
So won’t Square Enix get any money for this now? Or did MS pay up front for the sales on Xbox, and compensation to delay/cancel it on PS, PC.
I maintain this is completely different to Bloodborne, Street Fighter, and most Sony deals, they are actually co developing these titles, who knows if they would have even existed.
For balance, I knowDestiny DLC 1 year timed exclisivity was obviously paid for, and I think it’s wrong.
jayjay119
Aaron Greenberg is in marketing for MS, he’s in the business of twisting things to look bigger for them than they are in reality. Let’s not forget he was quick to post that Rise of the Tomb Raider was a permanent exclusive to Xbox One and would never go to another platform… the day before Phil spencer came out to say the exclusivity deal was timed and the game would also appear on Xbox 360. Both Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics have both since released statements to say that MS are publishing the Xbox versions of the game. That statement coupled with Spencer’s statements after the initial announcement lead me to believe the game will come to other platforms at a certain time but Square Enix will be left to fund those version as was the case with the likes of Minecraft, Ninja Gaiden (sigma) 2 and others.
jayjay119
for their respective developers/publishers, not SE, obviously.
Ronzy
It’s a very confusing situation. They aren’t being totally transparent on the whole exclusively thing and I assume that just because ms will be publishing it on their platforms doesn’t mean someone else can’t do it on playstation?
It’s in contrast to the sony/Street fighter deal where they have outright said it will NEVER appear on any other console.
The timing of this news seems to be to try and counter the uncharted 4 reveal, so why don’t ms just spell out exactly what the deal is if it’s truly exclusive?
To be honest, I enjoyed the tomb raider reboot, but the what disappointed me most is how much it tries to be uncharted and imo that’s only gonna end badly for lara. If they make the next one all about the exploration, atmosphere and, you know… Tombs or the original, then I would sorely miss its availability on ps4.