New Tomb Raider “With Amazing Plans”

Following Embracer Group’s acquisition of Crytsal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal and Square Enix Montreal, many fans are wondering: What will become of the Tomb Raider series? A new Tomb Raider is set to appear under the creative direction of Crystal Dynamics based on Unreal Engine 5, but not much is known about the title yet. But Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors is certain: Big things are in store for us.

It’s about money, but not in the way you might think

Wingefors emphasized that Embracer Group trusts Crystal Dynamics’ management and will allow the studio a high degree of autonomy. This is also due to the plans that the developers have for Tomb Raider:
“We don’t expect to have anything that accounts for more than 5 percent of our sales next year, including a AAA release like Saints Row. And because of that, we feel more confident about this transaction [den Kauf von Crystal Dynamics, Anm. d. Red.], because we believe we can do good business with it. They have some really amazing plans in relation to Tomb Raider, which is the only project they have announced so far, which I have every confidence in.“

When deciding what to do with IPs like Tomb Raider, Thief and Deus Ex in the future, Wingefors also believes in the importance of remasters and remakes. But he also stresses that the cost of developing more titles will be a key factor:

“Should we do something completely new? Should we license or outsource IPs? If you already have some really strong AAA IPs – and I’m not necessarily talking about Tomb Raider in this case – it makes our job easier.“

Wingefors also reassured fans that the IPs and employees of the three newly acquired studios would be treated with care and that “reasonable expectations” would be maintained. His conclusion: If you only do things that have the greatest potential for the greatest profits, then your own business will eventually become pretty boring.

Source: Gamesindustry.biz