The announcement that Crystal Dynamics is working on a new Tomb Raider game was buried near the conclusion of Epic Games’ State of Unreal talk.
Tomb Raider debuted in 1996 on the original PlayStation and has since inspired a slew of sequels, a reboot, and three films (of which, the two Angelina Jolie movies, I maintain, are good). The last Tomb Raider game, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, was released four years ago to mixed reviews, and it’s unclear whether this new game will pick up where Shadow left off.
Crystal Dynamics is incredibly excited about the future of Unreal and how it will help us take our storytelling to the next level. That's why we're proud to announce that our next #tombraider game is being built on Unreal Engine 5! pic.twitter.com/UFMiWzJAZc
— Tomb Raider (@tombraider) April 5, 2022
“This new engine converts into next-level storytelling and gameplay experiences,” Dallas Dickinson, franchise director at Crystal Dynamics, said in a statement about the benefits of producing a game with Unreal Engine 5.
Unreal Engine 5 has been praised by a number of studios, including Crystal Dynamics. Developers from The Coalition, which created Gears of War, and CD Project Red, which created The Witcher, discussed how UE5 makes their development processes easier.
More than just slick, hyper-realistic trailers were shown at the Unreal Engine 5 presentation. The presenter became delightfully excited about the game’s stair creation skills during a demo of Lyra, the latest multiplayer shooter released with Unreal Engine 5.
Last year, Tomb Raider honored its 25th anniversary by announcing that both Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light and Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris would be released later this year on the Nintendo Switch.
