What Is Going On With the New Tomb Raider Game?

A new Tomb Raider game has been in development for several years, but we have heard very little about it. One of the most iconic and defining gaming franchises has to be Tomb Raider. Not only did it set a new precedent for 3D action/adventure games, but it also brought forth one of the most bad-ass female protagonists. Lara Croft has been a gaming legend for decades now, surviving reinvention from a pulpy hero to a hardened adventurer forced into survival mode from her harrowing journeys. She’s also made the transition into a blockbuster film protagonist with three different movies and now, she will be the star of an upcoming live-action TV series.

With that said, it’s clear the Tomb Raider brand is alive and well. However, it has been nearly four years since we first got official confirmation that a new Tomb Raider game was in the works. At the start of 2022, it was confirmed that a brand new Tomb Raider game was being developed by Crystal Dynamics in Unreal Engine 5. However, since then, we have been met with minimal updates, and it has left fans to wonder what’s going on with the franchise. The last mainline Tomb Raider game was released in 2018, meaning it could be almost a decade between games by the time it actually releases.

Everything We Know About the Next Tomb Raider

With all of that said, I’ve decided to round up all the information we have on the new Tomb Raider game so we can get a better sense of what’s going on. Our first real piece of news on this game after its initial announcement goes all the way back to the summer of 2022. PlayStation Podcast Sacred Symbols leaked some Tomb Raider scripts that were being used to audition actors. One of the scripts was for Lara Croft herself, suggesting actress Camilla Ludington would not reprise her role as Croft, and revealed that Lara is no longer inexperienced. She’s more fully-formed, matured, and successful, even going as far as seeking some kind of partnership with characters who have become inspired by her adventures.

This leak was proven to be real when representatives for the game forced Sacred Symbols to take down the audio of themselves reading the script aloud. This is really the most amount of information we’ve gotten on the game thus far. It seems that Lara Croft will be less tortured and tormented, instead being a more stoic figure who is able to effectively grapple with the stakes at hand.

Later that year, it was confirmed that Amazon would publish this new Tomb Raider game. This deal was likely supported by the fact that Amazon is developing a live-action Tomb Raider TV series, though it’s unclear if the new game and the show will be directly connected.

In February 2024, a new redesign of Lara Croft was revealed via a piece of artwork that was officially released online. The design was much more in line with what we’d expect from traditional Lara Croft, once again highlighting a difference between the next iteration and the inexperienced take on the character in the “Survivor” trilogy. The new look doesn’t seem to resemble a specific actress or anything, which may mean that whoever plays her is lesser known or it’s a general piece of artwork that will change once they get someone’s likeness.

In May 2024, it was reported that the next Tomb Raider game would be set in India. The leak came from a movie insider known as V Scooper and claimed that the game would be set in an open world with vehicles like motorcycles that allow you to get from place to place.

This would be important as you’ll be racing against rivals to try and get to key artifacts and items, as is per usual in a Tomb Raider story. However, the leak also claimed that there’d be a greater emphasis on non-lethal encounters if the player wants that option, a welcome addition after how bloodthirsty Lara Croft was in the last three games. This report report is still worth taking with a grain of salt, given the credibility of the scooper is more questionable, but it is one of the more notable leaks in the last few years.

There has been a lot of silence since then, but recently, there was confirmation that the next Tomb Raider game remained in active development despite shake-ups at Amazon’s gaming division. Under 30 Crystal Dynamics developers were also recently laid off, potentially due to the cancellation of Perfect Dark, which was being co-developed by the team. This is the third round of lay-offs for the studio this year and the second round since the cancellation of Perfect Dark, so it’s unclear if or how this may impact the next Tomb Raider.

When Can We Expect to See the Next Tomb Raider?

Assuming this Tomb Raider game began development around 2021 or 2022, based on the script leaks, it doesn’t seem unreasonable that it will release sometime in 2026. However, given how crowded next fall is already looking with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, GTA 6, and Marvel’s Wolverine, it may be in the studio’s best interest to save it for an early 2027 release if it can afford to do so.

We may get lucky and see the next Tomb Raider game at The Game Awards next month if the plan is to release the game next year. If not, it seems more likely that we’d get our first look at the game next summer during Summer Game Fest or a publisher showcase like a PlayStation State of Play.

Either way, roughly five years of development for a new Tomb Raider game feels reasonable, given it took about 2 – 3 years to develop each game in the previous trilogy. If rumors are true that Crystal Dynamics is taking the series open-world, it would require some more development time. Ideally, so long as there isn’t something wrong, it should hopefully be revealed within the next year.

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