If the point of 2013’s Tomb Raider reboot was to depict a younger, less experienced Lara Croft, 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider concluded her evolution to a hardened adventurer. And while the trilogy’s ending finished the three-game story, it deliberately left the door open for future adventures. Thus, the big question was when and how Tomb Raider might return.While it’s been a few months since Crystal Dynamics confirmed that it’s working on a new Tomb Raider game in Unreal Engine 5, the studio’s been tight-lipped about the whole project. However, that didn’t stop the game’s scrip from leaking online. Ironically, Crystal Dynamics' possible attempt to plug the leak may have confirmed its authenticity.Recently, an apparent insider leaked the script for the upcoming Tomb Raider game to the hosts of the PlayStation-focused Sacred Symbols Podcast. The podcast’ Patreon supporters were then treated to an exclusive reading by co-hosts Chris “Ray Gun” Maldonado and Dustin Furman. However, it seems that Crystal Dynamics wasn’t thrilled by this performance and served Patreon with a DMCA takedown notice. And as annoying as this may be for Sacred Symbols and its fans, this formal notice seems to confirm the script’s authenticity.
Sacred Symbols discussed the situation in a “bonus episode” yesterday, August 2. According to host Colin Moriarty, he’d been sitting on the script for some time while he figured out the best way to use it. Moriarty ultimately decided that a dramatic reading would be sufficiently transformative to avoid copyright claims. Unfortunately, it appears that the Tomb Raider studio still took issue with Sacred Symbols’ reading. As a result, crystal Dynamics served Patreon with a DMCA takedown notice on the same day the episode went live, forcing Patreon to remove it or face legal liability.
Moriarty, for his part, seems to be taking the situation in stride, explaining that he wasn’t angry with either company. He confirmed that the podcast would comply with the DMCA takedown notice, explaining that he didn’t want to antagonize Crystal Dynamics unnecessarily. However, Moriarty still believes that he didn’t violate any copyright laws by sharing the script in the way he did.
The leak revealed a few unknown details about the next Tomb Raider game, which is codenamed “Project Jawbreaker.” This includes that the new game will feature an older, more experienced Lara, backed up by a team of fellow adventurers. The leak also revealed that the new Tomb Raider takes place “in a modern-day world rocked by a mysterious cataclysm,” though it’s still unknown if the new game will continue from where the reboot trilogy left off.
Tomb Raider is in development.