In a press release by Square Enix, they announced that fans of the Tomb Raider series on the PC and the Playstation 4 won't have to wait too long (depending on your definition of long of course). Rise of the Tomb Raider has been known that it will release to the Xbox One and Xbox 360 on November 10th, 2015, but this is the first mention of when exactly the other platforms will be getting it. PC owners will be next in line, in particular on Steam and those who have upgraded to Windows 10, as it has been announced to be available in early 2016. Playstation 4 owners are the last to receive the game as they will be getting it one year after the Xbox owners in Holiday 2016. We last saw the heroine during E3 of this year during the Square Enix press conference, in a whole new set of gameplay and trailers during the event.
This brings some clarity to some of the concerns of fans of the franchise that didn't know when the exclusivity deal with Microsoft would have ended in getting to play the second game of the rebooted franchise. The first game was met with a reasonably positive response from both critics and gamers alike, as the new game took steps forward in bringing Lara into the modern gaming world, and rebooted her character and her image.
Quick Take
Honestly, I understand why companies are dealing for the rights to games like Tomb Raider, and there are some benefits in several cases to making console exclusivity, as games that may not have been made otherwise would have never been made (see Bayonetta 2 as the prime example). However, in this case, it's clear that they had every intention to bringing it to the other platforms, and so while it's good to hear that it's coming to other platforms within a year's time frame, it would have been nice to get it all at once. Then again, let's hope that extra time allows the ports of the game to be excellent.Were you thinking about getting an Xbox One at all due to Rise of the Tomb Raider at first? Are you mad about the time exclusivity that Microsoft is getting, or is it a sacrifice for allowing competition within the gaming market?
