‘Rise Of The Tomb Raider’ Xbox One Exclusivity Is Not Permanent; Fans Petition For PS4 And PC Release

Tuesday’s surprise announcement that Rise of the Tomb Raider will be an exclusive to Microsoft’s Xbox One took many fans and individuals in the industry aback. Some reactions were extremely negative and a Change.org petition was quickly created with more than 10,000 signatures in the course of a day. Immediate questions arose on if his was a permanent or timed exclusive. A new interview with Xbox Head Phil Spencer Gamescom media briefing suggest that it is the latter, but there’s no telling when the game will see a PS4 or PC release.

Speaking with Eurogamer, Spencer stressed that Microsoft does not own Tomb Raider. The company just made a deal with Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics for what appears to only be Rise of the Tomb Raider. Spencer understands the reaction though.

“I get the reaction I see,” he explained. “If I’m a PlayStation person all of a sudden I feel like, the franchise has gone. I didn’t buy the IP. I didn’t buy the studio. It’s not mine. Where this thing will go over time, just like ‘Dead Rising’ or ‘Ryse,’ we’ll see what happens with the game. I don’t own every iteration of ‘Tomb Raider’.”

Spencer continued, “I don’t own them building ‘Tomb Raider’ on other platforms. I can’t talk about the franchise that way. I can talk about the deal I have.”

When pressed on the Xbox One deal for Rise of the Tomb Raider, Spencer said, “I have ‘Tomb Raider’ shipping next holiday exclusively on Xbox. It is Xbox 360 and Xbox One. I’m not trying to fake anybody out in terms of where this thing is. What they do with the franchise in the long run is not mine. I don’t control it. So all I can talk about is the deal I have. I don’t know where else ‘Tomb Raider’ goes.”

Then the kicker arrived that confirmed that the Tomb Raider deal is a timed exclusive.

“Yes, the deal has a duration. I didn’t buy it. I don’t own the franchise,” he explained.

Spencer understandably did not elaborate on the length of the deal’s duration or money specifics between Square Enix and Microsoft. Both companies have a vested interest in not revealing how long Rise of the Tomb Raider will be an Xbox One exclusive because they don’t won’t people sitting around waiting for the game to release on their platform of choice.

Still, the length of the exclusivity with the Xbox is the question that every gamer is going to be asking until other platforms are announced. Is it weeks, months, possibly a year into 2016 or later? We’ve seen that already to a degree with the timed exclusive DLC content for Destiny. Some of that is exclusive to the PS4 through the end fall 2015.

Meanwhile, as Spencer mentioned, Xbox One launch titles Dead Rising 3 and Ryse: Son of Rome will be released to the PC this fall.

What do you think of this timed-exclusivity deal for Rise of the Tomb Raider and the Xbox One? Let us know in the comments below.

[Image via Square Enix]