Square Enix CEO: Tomb Raider Will Be “Evolving”

Tomb Raider first graced our screens back in October of 1996, and now the iconic franchise is only three months shy of its big 20th anniversary. Our hero Lara Croft has certainly seen significant changes over the years, namely in the 2013 reboot which served as a grueling prequel to her beginnings as a tomb raider, and in which we finally saw her in a full shirt and jeans…

Lara Croft in Tomb Raider

Lara’s story continued with Rise of the Tomb Raider. The game was released November 10, 2015, as a timed-exclusive for the Xbox One and then earlier this year for the PC, with a vague release date for the PS4 sometime later in 2016. Fans, however, were quick to voice their concern for the anticipated PS4 release of Rise of the Tomb Raider was a no-show at Sony’s Press Conference at E3 2016. An admin for the Square Enix forum put everyone at ease writing, “As stated previously, Rise of the Tomb Raider’s PlayStation 4 release is set for Holiday 2016.” While this is reassuring, there is still no concrete release date for PS4 users, but fans can hopefully expect one in the coming months.

The 20th-anniversary celebrations have been ongoing, and to keep the momentum strong, Square Enix CEO Yosuke Matsuda took a walk down memory lane, reflecting on his favorite memories from the franchise. He stated, “I like Tomb Raider Legend very much, especially the stage of Tokyo. In the boss battle of the stage of Tokyo, it was a good memory that I was defeated by the old guy again and again. Couldn’t bring him down. And Lara was so cool. It was the action adventure, a really impressive game.” I think fans would agree that it is the high action-adventure of the game, coupled with that “coolness” of Lara that has made Tomb Raider resonate with so many people for so long. It’s what made the reboot engaging, as we watched a young and capable Lara with a thirst for adventure on the island of Yamatai slowly become the independent woman that we have come to know from the previous games. You can watch Yosuke Matsuda’s entire video below.

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6b5q_EICyI[/embedyt]

It is in this same video that Mr. Matsuda goes on to say he believes Tomb Raider “will be evolving more and you can enjoy playing the new Tomb Raider titles. So I am looking forward to your continuing support for Lara and Tomb Raider.” His comments about the franchise are pleasantly optimistic, and it gives new and longtime fans of the series great things to look forward to on Lara’s journey for years to come.

Tori Morrow

Tori is a writer and gamer originally from Vault 111, but now she resides in Chicago. She has an MFA in creative writing-fiction, runs primarily on coffee, and is an expert on AMC’s The Walking Dead. Follow her on Twitter @torithatnerd.