‘Rise Of The Tomb Raider’ Xbox One Publishing Deal Similar To ‘Dead Rising 3’
Microsoft and Square Enix announced earlier this year that Rise of the Tomb Raider will be exclusive to the Xbox One “for a duration.” The deal between the two companies for the follow-up to the Lara Croft reboot was further clarified Tuesday following a Tweet from the marketing manager in charge of first and third partY games at Microsoft.
Marketing manager Aaron Greenberg confirmed that Microsoft will publish Rise of the Tomb Raider with the following.
@diosmekemeke Yes we are publishing Rise of the Tomb Raider.
— Aaron Greenberg (@aarongreenberg) December 8, 2014
This announcement raises new questions about how the timed-exclusivity with the game will work, and if it will ever appear on additional platforms. Square Enix confirmed to GameSpot that Microsoft will be the publisher and stated that the company has provided support “across the entire development and publishing pipeline for Rise of the Tomb Raider.”
That last statement seemingly confirms that it is highly unlikely we will see the game on the PlayStation 4. Sony announced a similar deal for Street Fighter V at the PlayStation Experience this past weekend which guarantees the fighting game will not appear on the Xbox One, but will be available on the PC.
What about a PC version of Rise of the Tomb Raider? It’s still a possibility based on a statement Microsoft gave to Eurogamer confirming that it is publishing the title.
“Similar to how we worked with Capcom on Dead Rising 3 or Harmonix on Dance Central, we’re very excited to partner with the amazing team at Crystal Dynamics to bring Rise of the Tomb Raider in holiday 2015, exclusively to Xbox,” a Microsoft representative said. “Both our team and the Xbox community are huge fans of the franchise and we can’t wait to share more on the game in the future.”
A PC version of Dead Rising 3 launched a year after the launch of the Xbox One as did Ryse: Son of Rome. Rise of the Tomb Raider is currently slated for a holiday 2015 release to the Xbox One. If the deal between Microsoft and Square Enix is structured in a similar fashion as Dead Rising 3, then it is possible that we could see Rise of the Tomb Raider on the PC around holiday 2016.
Of course, Dance Central never showed up on the PC, but that title requires the Kinect sensor. So, it may be a big of a red herring to include that with Dead Rising 3.
Microsoft obviously sees big potential in the rebooted Tomb Raider series, and it will need it too. A holiday 2015 release will put it up against Uncharted 4, which had an impressive gameplay demo at the PlayStation Experience this past weekend. That’s two very similar AAA third-person action adventure exclusives for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One battling it out.
What do you think of Microsoft’s deal with Square Enix for Rise of the Tomb Raider? Sound off in the comments below.
[Images via Tomb Raider]
