Interview: Shadow of the Tomb Raider Devs Respond to EA's Stance on Linear Games

This week I was able to head out to LA to play the upcoming Shadow of the Tomb Raider first hand and speak with the devs a little bit about this final step in Lara Croft's origins arc. I sat down with Narrative Director Jason Dozois and Lead Designer Heath Smith and spoke about the evolutionary process of Croft, the much darker themes the upcoming game has in store, and much more. That being said, there was one thing in particular I wanted to know and that concerned another big powerhouse in gaming: EA.

Last year, EA made a very controversial statement regarding linear story-based games following the abrupt closure of Visceral Studios mid-development of their narrative-driven Star Wars title. One of the reasons they decided to shut the project down was that "no one wanted" linear games anymore, and that they wanted to put their focus on a more marketable gaming niche: online. When I asked both Dozois and Smith about what they thought of EA's claim, both immediately laughed and couldn't help but to point out one glaring hole in that argument from this previous week, God of War.

Dozois jokingly started, "Well, there was a game that came out last week, I don't know if you've heard of it," he said sarcastically as we all instantly knew what he was talking about. The success of God of War was instantaneous with an outstanding amount of perfect scores around the world and record breaking buyers at launch. Since EA is big about numbers, those numbers are hard to deny that their statement of "no one wants" isn't necessarily as accurate as they might think.

Doizois continued, "I think people want to be entertained." He also compared the notion of "linear" to that of television and movies while also pointing out that Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a middle ground between totally linear and less structured. There's an overall narrative in the upcoming game, but there is still a freedom to explore. "People like to participate," he added. "Getting your hands on it [the game] and having that interaction, you still have input, you still have choice of how you perform, how you can express yourself within that range."

"It's not linear or non-linear, it's just what can we do to make you feel and go on an emotional journey and that's what I think is great and that people will always want that high-quality aspect that linear games can offer."

So many phenomenal single-player games have come out recently that are sort of going against the grain of the rising popularity of online-only titles. If EA continues to ignore this huge community demand, it is good to know that the team over at Eidos, Square Enix, Crystal Dynamics, Santa Monica, and so many more are still dedicated to creating a wonderful story line in an industry that continues to evolve away from wants and more into a direction of bottom line profits.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider releases on PC, Xbox One, and PS4 on September 15th. I recently got to play a few hours of the game myself, and you can check out my first impressions of the next journey for Croft right here.