Square Enix, Crystal Dynamics, and Eidos-Montreal are celebrating the 25th anniversary of Tomb Raider with a ton of announcements. Besides games, they’re working on two in-person experiences, an animated series from the creators of Castlevania and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, and donating money to charitable causes. The main gaming news involves digital store discounts, an Amazon giveaway, and a roguelike mobile game.
Netflix and Legendary Television are working with Powerhouse Animation for a Tomb Raider anime that picks up after the events of the 2018 game, Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Hayley Atwell, fresh off reprising her role as Peggy in the MCU’s What If…? series, will voice Lara. Allen Maldonado and Earl Baylon are also reprising their roles.
Crystal Dynamics is collaborating with Little Lion Entertainment to create an immersive theatrical experience in London called Tomb Raider: The LIVE Experience. People will work in teams and “forg[e] their own destiny alongside recognizable characters from the blockbuster franchise,” which sounds like it’s probably fun, if completely unclear. Maybe some kind of elaborately themed escape room? Meanwhile, the Storyworld museum in Groningen in the Netherlands is also debuting an exhibit called “The World of Lara Croft—25 Years of Tomb Raider,” that will teach visitors about the “design details, developer insights, and elements of Tomb Raider in the real world” from 1996 onward.
Crystal Dynamics has donated $25,000 to the International Rescue Committee, a charity that, according to their website, “helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover and regain control of their future.” They’ve donated $20,000 in Camilla Luddington’s name to Women for Women International. On Nov. 6, they will participate in a 24-hour charity drive to raise funds for University of California, San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospitals. They have set aside $25,000 and hope to raise as much at the fundraiser.
Over the course of 2021, Crystal Dynamics has commissioned global artists to reimagine different iterations of Tomb Raider box art. They will host a charity drive to “purchase a full set of 15 physical prints of the reimagined box art with all proceeds going to Girls Make Games.” The prints in their current state can be seen here.
Many Tomb Raider games and add-ons are currently on sale at a variety of storefronts, including Steam, Humble Bundle, Green Man Gaming, GOG.com, the Square Enix Store, the Xbox Games Store, and PlayStation Store. You can get up to 89% off on select deals. The Tomb Raider collection pack on Steam, for instance, would usually cost about $366, but currently is listed at $41.40. Also, next month, from Nov. 1 to Nov. 14, Crystal Dynamics and Prime Gaming are giving Rise of the Tomb Raider away for free on PC to all Amazon Prime members.
Crystal Dynamics is also collaborating with Feral Interactive to bring the 2010 release Lara Croft and the Guardian of the Light and 2014’s Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris to Nintendo Switch in 2022. The debut of these arcade-inspired action-adventure puzzlers will mark the Switch debut for the character and the franchise.
Finally, Square Enix London Mobile is launching a mobile Tomb Raider next year, Tomb Raider Reloaded, where original English-language Lara Croft voice actors will join Keeley Hawes. According to the Square Enix London Mobile website, the game will feature “roguelike gameplay…supported by a deep upgrade & progression system that includes run-specific and permanent weapons, abilities, upgrades and collectables.” For an unspecified limited time, players will be able to pick which voice actress they want for Lara Croft: Shelley Bond (who voiced her in the first game), Judith Gibbins (who voiced her in the next two), Jonell Elliot (who voiced the next three before the reboot), or Keeley Hawes (who voiced Lara Croft in the games from 2009-2014). Camilla Luddington, who voiced Lara Croft in 2015’s Rise of the Tomb Raider and 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider, will not be available in this feature.