The future of the Tomb Raider series was in doubt after Square Enix execs publicly blamed the supposedly disappointing sales of this year’s reboot for the company’s recent financial shortfall, but in true Lara Croft fashion, it appears that the series is hanging on for another adventure: Gail Simone, the new writer for the Tomb Raider comic, casually mentioned that a new Tomb Raider sequel is in development, and that her comic will lead directly into the story of the upcoming game.
“We start just a few weeks after the end of the game,” Simone told Kotaku during last weekend’s San Diego Comic Con, “and this is all in continuity, it will be Tomb Raider canon, and lead directly into the sequel. This is what got me excited; we get to be part of Lara Croft history.”
“Lara is a questioner, who wants to know and understand the world,” Simone said. “I identify with that and I see the story potential too. She hasn’t become the ‘Tomb Raider’ yet, she’s still figuring out the world she lives in and how different it is from the world she thought she lived in.” Simone says that Lara’s new adventures won’t be confined to a single location, and will take her all over the world.
Simone’s comments are the first official confirmation that a sequel to last March’s reboot is in development. Despite being released to rave reviews and selling over four million copies, Square Enix says that sales of the Tomb Raider reboot were “below expectations,” and blamed the title (along with Hitman: Absolution and Sleeping Dogs,) as their reason for posting a $42 million dollar loss for the 2012 fiscal year. Since then, Square has announced that they would be creating less console titles and would be focusing more on easier to develop mobile and social games.
I loved the new Tomb Raider reboot (and every Tomb Raider game that Crystal Dynamics has developed, actually,) so it’s good to hear that Square isn’t giving up on the series. Four million in sales is nothing to scoff at, so hopefully Square will temper their expectations for any future titles in the series. Hopefully the new game will be a proper, full length sequel and won’t simply be some dumbed down iOS pseudo-sequel, a-la Deus Ex: The Fall.
