New Tomb Raider Game To Be Released

Crystal Dynamics has announced a new Tomb Raider game, and revealed that it will be built using Unreal Engine 5.

Details on the game are sparse beyond its Unreal Engine 5 facelift

Tomb Raider launched on the original PlayStation in 1996 and has spawned numerous sequels, a reboot, and three movies (of which, the two Angelina Jolie movies, I maintain, are good). It’s been four years since the last Tomb Raider game, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, launched to tepid reviews, and it is not yet known if this new game will continue where Shadow left off.

Announcing the game during the State of Unreal 2022, Crystal Dynamics’ Tomb Raider franchise general manager, Dallas Dickinson promised a “high-quality cinematic action-adventure experience”, but showed no gameplay or images, and didn’t reveal a release window or title. Dickinson said the team is looking to “push the envelope of fidelity”, and is looking to create an experience fans deserve from Crystal Dynamics and Tomb Raider as a series.

Crystal Dynamics becomes the latest major developer to move its next project to Unreal Engine 5. Other developers include The Coalition and CD Projekt Red, which has already announced that the next Witcher game will be developed using Unreal Engine 5.

This will be the first new mainline Tomb Raider game since Shadow of the Tomb Raider, which was released in 2018. Crystal Dynamics is best known in recent years for rebooting the Tomb Raider series, showing us a fresh look at Lara Croft’s origins in a grittier setting. In recent years, it has developed Marvel’s Avengers and has been assisting Microsoft’s Initiative studio on a reboot of Perfect Dark.

During the 25th anniversary of the Tomb Raider franchise last year, Crystal Dynamics game director Will Kerslake spoke about unifying the storylines between the reboot trilogy and the original games, where Lara Croft is a more seasoned explorer. However, Kerslake also said Crystal Dynamics wasn’t ready to announce a new game at that time.

Tomb Raider turned 25 last year and celebrated by announcing that both Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light and Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris would make their debut on the Nintendo Switch later this year.

Author Profile

Adam Regan

Deputy Editor

Features and account management. 3 years media experience. Previously covered features for online and print editions.

Email Adam@MarkMeets.com