The anticipated PC release of Rise of the Tomb Raider this month became official on Tuesday. Square Enix and Microsoft announced the launch details for the PC platform that includes the already known release to Steam plus a launch on the Windows Store for Windows 10.
“Professional danger-seeker Lara Croft delved her back onto Xbox last holiday season in Rise of the Tomb Raider – and now, she’s getting back into the swing of things on Windows 10,” the Square Enix press release declares. “Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics’ high-octane open-world adventure hits the Windows Store, Steam, and other major retailers on January 28, bringing all of the exploration, excitement, and beautiful scenery of Lara Croft’s latest quest to a whole new audience.”
The Xbox One version of Rise of the Tomb Raider was already one of the best-looking games of 2015. Developers Crystal Dynamics and Nixxes Software are making it look even better though with the addition of support for 4K resolutions on top of supporting the Windows 10 operating system.
The screenshots released of the PC version of Rise of the Tomb Raider demonstrates the improved visuals. Most notable is the clean-up of anti-aliasing, which was one of the areas that was lacking in the Xbox One release. The anti-aliasing solution used for the console caused some breaks in what should have been clean lines along with a shimmering effect, as reported by the tech experts at Digital Foundry .
PC gamers will not have to break the bank on their hardware to run Rise of the Tomb Raider . The Square Enix announcement included the following minimum requirements for PC hardware.
- Minimum OS: Windows 7 64bit
- Processor: Intel Core i3-2100 or AMD equivalent
- GPU: NVIDIA GTX 650 2GB or AMD HD7770 2GB
- RAM: 6GB
- HD Space: 25GB
- DirectX: DirectX 11
- Input: Mouse + Keyboard
“The PC release of Rise of the Tomb Raider continues the positive momentum from our highly successful partnership and collaboration with Microsoft for the launch on Xbox One and Xbox 360,” said Scot Amos co-Head of Studio at Crystal Dynamics.
“PC players are a passionate, devoted audience and we know they’ll embrace the version created for their systems,” said Ron Rosenberg, co-Head of Studio at Crystal Dynamics.
The standard edition of Rise of the Tomb Raider will cost $59.99 on Steam, the Windows Store, Amazon, Square Enix, and other retailers. The Digital Deluxe Edition, which comes with a Season Pass for current and future DLC, costs $89.99.
Square Enix is also releasing a Collector’s Edition of Rise of the Tomb Raider . This comes with the Digital Deluxe edition plus a 12-inch Lara Croft statue, replicas of Lara’s journal and jade necklace, and a steel case. It will be available from the Square Enix online store for $149.99.
Microsoft and Square Enix announced a timed exclusivity agreement for Rise of the Tomb Raider in 2014 to the chagrin of PC and PlayStation 4 gamers. The PC release obviously did not trail far behind, but the PS4 launch is not expected until the end of 2016.
The Xbox One version of Rise of the Tomb Raider was released Tuesday, November 10, 2015, in what had to be one of the most unfortunate release slots possible. Bethesda Softworks released Fallout 4 on the same day while Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 launched the Friday before. Additionally, Star Wars: Battlefront was released the following Tuesday. That’s the top three selling games for November 2015, according to the November 2015 NPD results, within 11 days of each other (via Venturebeat ).
In other words, it’s not surprising Rise of the Tomb Raider did not burn up the sales charts at launch. Still, it has sold more than one million copies, according to Microsoft.
What do you think of the PC release to Steam and the Windows Store for Rise of the Tomb Raider ? Sound off in the comments below.
[Image via Square Enix]