Comic book writer Gail Simone accidentally let the cat out of the bag early when she mentioned a new Tomb Raider game at San Diego Comic-Con a few weeks ago, and now we finally have official confirmation from Square Enix that a next-gen sequel is indeed on the way.
“It’s still early days, so I’m afraid I can’t provide any further details for now save my assurance that we’re not resting on our laurels and acclaim from Tomb Raider’s recent successes,” said Darrell Gallagher, head of product development at Square Enix, “but [we’re] working hard to raise the bar even higher and re-affirm the faith you’ve shown.” Gallagher said that the “next-gen” Tomb Raider is “well into development.”
The next-gen Tomb Raider is once again being developed by Crystal Dynamics, the development studio that has created every Tomb Raider game since 2006’s Tomb Raider: Legend.
The existence of a sequel was first revealed at this year’s Comic-Con, when Gail Simone casually mentioned that her upcoming Tomb Raider comic would serve as a bridge between the events of the first game and the story of its (then unannounced) sequel. Simone hinted that instead of taking place in a single location, Lara’s new adventures would see her travelling around to multiple locations around the world.
Square Enix execs originally tried to use Tomb Raider as a scapegoat for the company’s financial short-falls during the 2012 fiscal year, but it appears that Square still has some faith in the franchise — and rightfully so, considering that the last Tomb Raider game managed to sell 4 million copies worldwide and was released to mostly positive reviews. I’ve loved all of the Crystal Dynamics-developed Tomb Raiders (even Underworld, despite all its game breaking bugs,) so I’m really glad that the series will continue.
