The next Tomb Raider will be published by Amazon Games
In partnership with Crystal Dynamics
The next Tomb Raider will again be developed by Crystal Dynamics, but this time with "full support and publishing" provided by Amazon Games. It's the second game which Amazon have announced they're publishing in quick succession, after last week revealing that they would bring Bandai Namco MMO Blue Protocol to the west.
Amazon Games announced the Tomb Raider deal earlier today. Scot Amos, studio head at Crystal Dynamics, said that they have "an extraordinary opportunity following our acquisition by Embracer to redefine what a publishing relationship is for Tomb Raider." Beyond that, there's no clear sense what "full support" will look like.
It seems likely that the next Tomb Raider is extremely early in development. It was only announced earlier this year, with only the details that it will be another singleplayer narrative adventure and that it will use Unreal Engine 5. Other than that, it remains untitled and we have no idea how it might connect with Crystal Dynamics' previous Tomb Raider trilogy.
Since that announcement, Crystal Dynamics has been bought - along with the Tomb Raider IP - by Embracer Group from previous owners Square Enix. Embracer Group have bought umpteen studios over the past several years, and also own several publishing groups including Plaion (formerly Koch), Coffee Stain, Gearbox and Saber Interactive.
Amazon Games have had a rough recent history when it comes to internally developed games, with free-to-play shooter Crucible being closed while in beta and MOBA Breakaway being cancelled. They've had one major success with the internally developed New World, and more by publishing games from third-party studios like Lost Ark. All of those are online multiplayer games, however, which makes the new Tomb Raider something of a departure.
Various RPS writers had mixed feelings about Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider trilogy, including frustrations with its conception of Lara, its on-rails exploration, its lack of tombs, its exploitative death animations, and more. We liked each entry more than the last though, culminating in our broadly positive Shadow Of The Tomb Raider review.