As it turns out the console exclusivity deal for Crystal Dynamic’s Rise of the Tomb Raider is simply a timed exclusive deal, something neither publisher Square Enix or Microsoft mentioned during the games numerous appearances at E3 2014, Gamescom 2014 or this past E3.
In a press release issued this morning Square Enix confirmed that Rise of the Tomb Raider will be released on Xbox One on November 10th this year, on Windows 10 PC / Steam sometime in early 2016 and finally on PlayStation 4 one year after the Xbox One version in Holiday 2016. Development duties for all versions is being handled by Crystal Dynamics.
In all honesty this kind of takes the wind right out of the word “exclusive” – sure we’ve seen other publishers, most notably Activision with time locked content in Destiny on PlayStation Platforms, lock away content for an unspecified amount of time. But this whole deal with Rise of the Tomb Raider is a bit different because Square & Microsoft failed to acknowledge that the game would ever come to other platforms although many in the industry expected that Rise would eventually make the jump.
Check out the E3 2014 trailer for Rise of the Tomb Raider below. We’ll probably hear more about the game at Gamescom this August.
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