Earlier this month, we made note about a company called Realtech VR working on new PC remasters of Square Enix’s classic Tomb Raider games for a new generation to enjoy.
The company previously noted, “TR1-3 remaster for PC are planned for Steam for free and will require the purchase of the DOS version being sold on Team (like ZDoom playing Doom games). Also the PC version will supports OpenVR and features a new 3D engine for both 3 games.”
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Well, apparently those aren’t happening. Realtech VR recently took down that tweet, and then noted that it’s focusing on other things instead. Looks like the classic Lara Croft won’t be getting that revisit after all.
In the company’s latest Twitter post, it said, “After this episode, we are refocusing on new projects involving Augmented Reality on iOS and VR on PC. We are not more committed on third party license anymore.”
We’re not sure how this decision came about, but it might have been an internal decision by Square Enix to handle the possible remasters itself. The company is still riding high off of its announcement of a new Tomb Raider game coming later this year, so it might be deciding on working on those ports instead, rather than having Realtech VR do it. The company isn’t saying for sure, though.
There may have been a disagreement with the development as well, as the tweet and the videos showing production of the games have been taken completely offline. Again, RealTech VR hasn’t said for sure.
Crystal Dynamics have worked on older Tomb Raider materials in the past, working on Tomb Raider Anniversary several years ago, based on the original Tomb Raider adventure made by Core Design. And it also make Tomb Raider Legend, where it got its start into the world of Lara Croft, taking over for Core after The Angel of Darkness didn’t fare as well as expected.
It’s tough to say if we’ll still see remasters of the original games down the road, but, for now, all focus appears to be going into Shadow of the Tomb Raider, which releases for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC on September 14.