Microsoft and Square Enix announced earlier this year that "Rise of the Tomb Raider" will be exclusive to the Xbox One "for a duration." The deal between the two companies for the follow-up to the Lara Croft reboot was further clarified Tuesday following a tweet from the marketing manager in charge of first- and third-party games at Microsoft.
Marketing manager Aaron Greenberg confirmed that Microsoft will publish "Rise of the Tomb Raider" with the following tweet:
@diosmekemeke Yes we are publishing Rise of the Tomb Raider.
— Aaron Greenberg (@aarongreenberg) December 8, 2014
This announcement raises new questions about how the timed-exclusivity with the game will work, and if it will ever appear on additional platforms. Square Enix verified to GameSpot that Microsoft will be the publisher and stated that the company has provided support "across the entire development and publishing pipeline for Rise of the Tomb Raider."
Reading between the lines a bit, this statement appears to say that it is unlikely that this title will ever see the light of day on the PlayStation 4. Sony announced a similar deal for "Street Fighter V" at the PlayStation Experience this past weekend which guarantees the fighting game will not appear on the Xbox One, but will be available on the PC.
So, is a PC version of "Rise of the Tomb Raider" ever going to happen? It's still a possibility based on a statement Microsoft gave to Eurogamer confirming that it is publishing the title.
"Similar to how we worked with Capcom on 'Dead Rising 3' or Harmonix on 'Dance Central,' we're very excited to partner with the amazing team at Crystal Dynamics to bring 'Rise of the Tomb Raider' in holiday 2015, exclusively to Xbox," a Microsoft representative said. "Both our team and the Xbox community are huge fans of the franchise and we can't wait to share more on the game in the future."
