Key Takeaways
- The head of Amazon Games has praised progress on the new Tomb Raider game, citing great ideas and smooth development process.
- Crystal Dynamics faces challenges with the Perfect Dark reboot, impacting resources for the Tomb Raider project.
- Fans may have to wait longer for updates on the Tomb Raider game, as focus shifts to the TV series in development at Amazon.
Crystal Dynamics’ new Tomb Raider game is progressing smoothly according to the head of Amazon Games. Nearly two years ago, in late 2022, Amazon Games announced its partnership with the developer of the most recent Tomb Raider trilogy, Crystal Dynamics, for a new reboot of the classic franchise, though no new details aside from Lara Croft’s character design have emerged since.
Since Amazon Games’ Tomb Raider announcement, there has been some unfortunate turbulence at Crystal Dynamics’ parent company, Embracer Group. Just last year, the conglomerate endured a restructuring phase, which resulted in job losses across many of its studios, and even the heartbreaking closure of Volition, the studio most widely known for its bombastic Saints Row franchise, as well as the Red Faction games. Many gamers have wondered how these layoffs have affected Embracer’s most well-known and celebrated studio, Crystal Dynamics, as it has several major titles in development.
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Despite the turmoil at Embracer Group, and the silence regarding the new Tomb Raider reboot, it seems Crystal Dynamics is still in very good shape. In an interview with IGN, head of Amazon Games Christoph Hartmann expressed that Crystal Dynamics had remained largely “sheltered” from last year’s Embracer Group layoffs, and that the studio’s progress on Tomb Raider is going quite well. On it being so long since fans have heard anything of substance about the project, Hartmann said “…doing a new Tomb Raider, the bar is so high. The longer you go, the expectation goes higher, so it’s a huge, huge task, but things are progressing…there’s some really great ideas here…things are going well.”
Amazon Games Boss Says Tomb Raider Game Is Progressing Smoothly
It makes sense that Crystal Dynamics is taking a while to fully reveal the new Tomb Raider game when taking into account how much the studio has on its plate. Crystal is currently undertaking lead development alongside The Initiative on Xbox’s long-in-development Perfect Dark reboot. The Initiative was rumored to be struggling with the first-person action spy thriller before bringing on Crystal Dynamics in 2021, and things have reportedly been running smoothly since. If Perfect Dark‘s impressive gameplay reveal during Xbox’s June showcase is anything to go by, it seems the game is in great shape thanks to Crystal Dynamics’ support, though it means fewer hands on deck for the Amazon Tomb Raider game.
…doing a new Tomb Raider, the bar is so high. The longer you go, the expectation goes higher, so it’s a huge, huge task, but things are progressing…there’s some really great ideas here…things are going well
Despite this promising update from the boss of Amazon Games, it may still be some time before fans can expect to see or learn anything new about the new Tomb Raider title, let alone be able to get a peek at its gameplay. Tomb Raider fans are also excited about the freshly-ordered TV series in early development at Amazon, being led by Fleabag‘s Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Though recent reports indicate the project is enduring troubles of its own.
Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider is one of the biggest names in action-adventure gaming. The series began in 1996 and has had three trilogies of games: the original trilogy, the legend trilogy, and the survivor trilogy, as well as a handful of other titles in-between.
The Tomb Raider series is led by protagonist Lara Croft, who is considered to be one of the most important female characters in gaming history.
