The internet was set aflame yesterday, when it was announced that Square Enix’s Rise Of The Tomb Raider would be an Xbox exclusive release for holiday 2015. Considering last year’s critically acclaimed Tomb Raider reboot arrived on every platform imaginable, fans of other systems felt betrayed that they would not be able to get their fix of Lara Croft as easily this time. Square supporters cried “sellout,” and for at least a few hours, it seemed Microsoft was in full control of Rise Of The Tomb Raider’s destiny.
However, that doesn’t appear to be the full story. In a recent conversation with Eurogamer, Xbox’s Phil Harrison revealed that there is a time period to the exclusive agreement. However, the bad news is he isn’t willing to share just how long the deal will last. “There are certain things I’m just not going to talk about,” he says. “Obviously the deal does have a duration. I didn’t buy the IP in perpetuity.”
While time frames have yet to be announced, Harrison did offer condolence by suggesting his partnership with Rise Of The Tomb Raider is similar to what’s already been done with Ryse and Dead Rising 3. Both of those games began their careers as pure Xbox One exclusives, but are primed and ready to hit PC platforms this Fall. Harrison even went as far as to suggest that Rise Of The Tomb Raider could arrive not just on PC in the future, but other platforms as well. He made it very clear that Xbox has an exclusive holiday 2015 release, and that after a duration, Square Enix has the chance to release its game wherever they want.
What platform do you want to play Rise Of The Tomb Raider on? Let me know in the comments section below!