Highlights
- A recent update on the official Tomb Raider website has fueled speculation of an imminent announcement of a new game in the franchise.
- Fans are eagerly awaiting news about the future of the Tomb Raider franchise, especially after the announcement of Lara Croft joining Call of Duty: Warzone.
- While there are rumors about the upcoming Tomb Raider game, it is important to take them with caution and wait for official announcements.
A small detail has sparked rumors that there is news about a new Tomb Raider game on the horizon. The storied franchise has a long history with the first game releasing on the Sega Saturn, the original Sony PlayStation, and Microsoft's MS-DOS way back in 1996. The original Tomb Raider introduced one of the most iconic female protagonists in all of gaming and has been the subject of several sequels and spin-offs. The franchise has also been rebooted twice; first in 2006 with Tomb Raider: Legend after the poor reception of 2003's Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, then in 2013 after publisher Eidos Interactive was acquired by Square Enix.
As of writing, almost nothing is known about the future of the Tomb Raider franchise which has also not had a mainline release since 2018's Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the final game in what is known as "The Survivor Trilogy." Speaking at the 2021 community update for the 25 Year Celebration, game director Will Kurzlik spoke about "working to unify these timelines," referring to the different Tomb Raider continuities that have been established by Core Design, the original developer, and the more recent Survivor Trilogy that has been helmed by Crystal Dynamics.
A recent update on the official Tomb Raider website has spurred rumors that an announcement may be imminent. Fans can now sign up to "be the first to hear breaking news regarding the Tomb Raider franchise" via a newsletter. While it might be something of a reach to assume that this update has anything to do with a new game, there have been rumors of more information on the upcoming Tomb Raider game being divulged in 2023 after Crystal Dynamics CEO Phil Rogers was asked about it in November 2022.
Fans are understandably anxious to hear what Crystal Dynamics is working on, especially after Tomb Raider protagonist Lara Croft was announced for Call of Duty: Warzone as a Season 5 operator alongside hip hop legends Snoop Dogg and Nicki Minaj. It is worth noting that Phil Rogers was somewhat evasive when speaking about the upcoming game, only saying that fans "might" expect information in 2023, likely dependent on how much progress the development team has made.
It has been suggested that the upcoming Tomb Raider game might pick up where Shadow of the Tomb Raider left off, but this is mostly conjecture based on a tweet Crystal Dynamics shared when announcing its partnership with Amazon Game Studios. It is probably best to take these rumors with a grain of salt and patiently wait for official announcements.