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Rise of the Tomb Raider was initially released only for Xbox One and Xbox on November 10. Today it has surfaced on Steam’s Store, slated to be released sometime in January 2016.
Rise of the Tomb Raider, a sequel to the rebooted 2013 title, Tomb Raider, hit shelves for Xbox systems in November, receiving overwhelming praise and positive acclaim. The Nerd Stash’s own, Adam Dyche, awarded the game with a perfect 5/5 review rating. On July 23, Square Enix originally announced that Rise of the Tomb Raider will be out on PC and PlayStation 4 in 2016 with no definite date. The PC version was said to receive an earlier release date than the PS4’s “Holiday of 2016” release. PS3 has yet to be included in any official announcement, but Square Enix has stated that Rise of the Tomb Raider will be a console exclusive game “for one year after its initial launch.” It appears that “console exclusive” does not exclude PC.
Typing “Rise of the Tomb Raider” in Steam now yields a store page result. As seen above, there is no official date yet specified on the Steam page, but rather, the only thing pertaining to a date is the ambiguous statement: “Available: January 2016.” Nonetheless, we can be assured that sometime this upcoming new year month PC gamers will be able to enjoy Rise of the Tomb Raider.
The model of releasing Xbox exclusive games to PC a few months after initial release has been loosely followed by Microsoft-affiliated companies for a while now. Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics’s previous Tomb Raider title can be currently purchased on Steam during its “Winter Sale” for a mere $2.99.
Let us hope that the extended release time taken for Rise of the Tomb Raider will turn out a well-optimized experience, unlike a few recent ported PC games.
Benjamin is a writer for both Newegg and TheNerdStash, providing PC-related articles focused on gaming and hardware. Tinkerer and TV junkie, he also owns a computer repair business and constantly invents unreasonable justifications to upgrade his rig.