As you may or may not know by now, Rise Of The Tomb Raider, the sequel to the successful reboot of Tomb Raider, was announced at E3 2014 as a Microsoft exclusive. Square-Enix CEO recently talked with The Examiner to talk about the ongoing fiasco that has since followed the announcement. He eve let’s it be know that it was far from a easy decision.
I hope fans know that it wasn’t an easy decision, I think any sort of partnership at this level is a decision that took a long time for us to get to. The decision at a studio level, we took very, very seriously. We knew it would, in the short-term, disappoint fans.
He also goes on to tell The Examiner how Microsoft sold him on making it an exclusive.
Having been working with us on previous games in a lesser sense, they’ve been supportive. [However], for Rise of the Tomb Raider, they’ve just brought this passion and belief that has really enabled us to blow people away. People should feel that about Microsoft. Their commitment to Tomb Raider is just amazing for us, To see Tomb Raider showcased with Halo, Forza and Gears and see Tomb Raider there, it’s amazing for us. It becomes the most important thing. We’re about growing our IP, this is a long-term decision. We’re going to take Tomb Raider up to the next level. With Microsoft’s belief, passion and sort of muscle to help us deliver, we really think this is going to be an awesome game that people will enjoy for years and years to come
Square-Enix eventually heard the public out-cry from fans of the series and Tomb Raider eventually became a timed exclusive. The release date for PC and Playstation 4 were recently revealed. You can check those dates, here.
