Lara Croft is making a return with the help of Amazon Games. The company will publish the next Tomb Raider title, which Crystal Dynamics is developing. Amazon said the studio is using Unreal Engine 5 to craft the biggest and most expansive Tomb Raider game to date.
It’ll likely be a few years before you can get your hands on the next Tomb Raider game, which is coming to multiple platforms. It’s still in early development, but Amazon says it’ll retain all of the franchise’s hallmarks. This will be a single-player game with “an environment that rewards exploration and creative pathfinding.” Naturally, you’ll solve puzzles and battle a variety of enemies. The game will continue Lara’s story rather than being another reboot (so it’s probably not going to be the Tomb Raider 2 remake some have been hoping for).
This will be the first mainline Tomb Raider game since 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider (mobile title Tomb Raider Reloaded arrived earlier this year). Embracer Group recently bought Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montreal and Square Enix Montreal from Square Enix in a cut-price $300 million deal. Embracer snagged the intellectual property rights to Tomb Raider, Deus Ex and dozens of other games from Square Enix as well. The gaming giant also plans to revive Deus Ex in Unreal Engine 5.
“Crystal Dynamics has an extraordinary opportunity following our acquisition by Embracer to redefine what a publishing relationship is for Tomb Raider,” Crystal Dynamics head of studio Scot Amos said in a statement. “Transformative is what we’re looking for, and with Amazon Games, we found a team that shares our creative vision, ambitions and values for a Lara Croft universe across the spectrum of possibilities. They’re uniquely positioned to rewrite what publishing and development collaborations are, and we’re eager to forge this new path together, starting with building the biggest and best Tomb Raider game yet!”
Amazon has been making more waves in game publishing recently. It had another hit on its hands when it brought Smilegate’s Lost Ark to North America, South America and Europe earlier this year. Last week, Amazon revealed that it will bring Bandai Namco’s upcoming free-to-play multiplayer RPG Blue Protocol to the west. Amazon Games will be moving into new territory with Tomb Raider, as that will be its first single-player narrative title.