Even though Tomb Raider didn’t sell as well as Square Enix had hoped, it’s pushing forward with a sequel from Crystal Dynamics for next-generation consoles.
The news came courtesy of a lengthy note to fans from the CEO of Square Enix in America and Europe, Phil Rogers.
Crystal Dynamics quickly issued a statement on the matter, as well.
“Hi - you may have read today that a next-generation sequel to Tomb Raider is in the works,” said Crystal Dynamics head of product development and studios Darrell Gallagher. “We’re very excited to confirm that the team has started working on telling the next chapter in Lara’s tale. It’s still early days, so I’m afraid I can’t provide any further details for now save my assurance that we’re not resting on our laurels and acclaim from Tomb Raider’s recent successes, but working hard to raise the bar even higher and re-affirm the faith you’ve shown.”
The letter from Rogers comes soon after the departure of Eidos Montreal founder Stephane D'Astous, who left the company by way of scathing comments regarding its future. It appears those comments were enough to push Square Enix into action.
“First and foremost, we are a games company and today we devote most of our time and effort into developing new and rich gameplay experiences, worlds and characters,” said Rogers. “At the same time new business models have risen up, which we periodically will try to explore. I know this can be frustrating for some long-time fans of our games, particularly if it seems that we’re heading in unfamiliar directions without much in the way of explanation. Explaining our approach to these opportunities is something we’re working to improve on. That said, we need to experiment and adapt or it’s likely we won’t always be in a position to keep investing in the ways we need, to build-out our games and offer excellence to you, our gamers.”
The sequel had already been talked about, though, thanks to comments by comics writer Gail Simone in an interview with Kotaku.