tomb-raider-2012
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Square Enix marketing VP Karl Stewart leaves company
Former Square Enix vice-president of marketing Karl Stewart announced his departure from the company after eight years of service, and he'll begin a new job at the Burbank-based Petrol Advertising agency in April. Stewart worked in recent years at Crystal Dynamics and was one of the key figures driving the Tomb Raider reboot, which despite rumblings at a boardroom level went on to be a hit both with critics and at retailers. Stewart revealed his departure publicly in a blog post this week, in which he thanked his former employer by giving it a glowing recommendation "Square Enix is an amazing company," Stewart wrote, "whether you work for one of its studios or publishing arms, or if you're thinking of joining, this company has given me the opportunity to grow and do what I love to do best, work in creative and ridiculously talented company at the heart of the video game industry. The potential for opportunity and growth at Square Enix is limitless." Stewart will now bring his expertise to Petrol, an advertising agency that over the last decade has amassed a client list brimming with big-name games companies. "For the last 8 years I have worked with [co-founders] Alan [Hunter] and Ben [Granados] at Petrol on many different projects, from Batman to Tomb Raider to Thief, and on every occasion they've blown me away with their vision and creativity," Stewart explained. "So when the conversation started about joining the company which they've both worked extremely hard to develop and grow, there was no doubt in my mind this was the right next step for me, as they both think the same way I do. I'm all about experiences, and this is the new experience I'm looking for right now." [Image: Square Enix]
Tomb Raider stretches to 6 million sold, one year later
Has any franchise reboot endured more scrutiny and debate over its degrees of success (or is it failure?) than 2013's Tomb Raider? Perhaps it's apt fallout from Lara Croft's rugged origin story, in which she proves herself against wolves, wild cultists and supernatural weather. Tomb Raider's commercial splash has gone from "'biggest opening" to "weak," back to "profitable" and onward to exceeding "profit expectations," according to a fan-facing note from Square Enix's head of studios, Darrell Gallagher. Looking back at the year since Tomb Raider first launched, Gallagher plays the referee and makes the call fans have been waiting for: "By the end of this month we will surpass 6 million units for our Tomb Raider reboot, and, having achieved profitability back in 2013 Tomb Raider has exceeded profit expectations and continues to make significant contributions to our overall financial performance." Publisher Square Enix was never going to get an instant Call of Duty caliber hit out of the story-driven Tomb Raider, but this affirmed success becomes important when we see doom hanging over major AAA studios, investing years into a game that hits – but doesn't hit quite hard enough. For now, Lara Croft appears to be a viable business again, even if she's not yet swimming in it. And let's get some actual swimming in the next one, please?
PSN Europe: Tomb Raider, Brothers, PixelJunk Monsters free for Plus members
PlayStation Plus subscribers in Europe can access a smorgasbord of free content starting this week, including downloadable copies of Tomb Raider, PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate HD, and Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition. PlayStation 3 owners with an active Plus subscription receive Tomb Raider and Starbreeze's Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons for free this week. Brain-training puzzler Smart As... and tower defense game PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate HD arrive as free PlayStation Plus offerings on the PS Vita, while the upgraded PlayStation 4 version of Housemarque's co-op zombie shooter Dead Nation is also available as a free download in its debut week. Other PSN games premiering in Europe this week include Gust's Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky, Wales Interactive's Master Reboot, and Obsidian's South Park: The Stick of Truth. [Image: Sony]
Tomb Raider, Brothers head up Europe's PlayStation Plus lineup in March
Sony has revealed next month's additions to its PlayStation Plus Instant Game Collection in Europe, mirroring much of the content set for a free release in North America throughout March. Starting next month, PlayStation Plus subscribers in Europe can pick up a no-cost copy of Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition, an enhanced PlayStation 4 version of Super Stardust developer Housemarque's top-down zombie shooter. PlayStation 3 owners will receive free downloads of Square Enix's Tomb Raider and Starbreeze's Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, which hit the PlayStation Plus program in North America last month. March's PlayStation Vita freebies include the brain training app Smart As... and Q Games' tower defense game Pixeljunk Monsters Ultimate HD. Launch dates for featured games have not been announced. [Image: Square Enix]
March's PlayStation Plus freebies are Tomb Raider, Thomas Was Alone, more
PlayStation Plus subscribers have six free games to look forward to across Sony's three current platforms as part of its Instant Game Collection program. PS4 owners signed up to PS Plus will receive arcade shooter Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition for free this coming month. Three more games will be free on PS3 in March: Tomb Raider, Thomas Was Alone and Lone Survivor: The Director's Cut. Lastly, Vita players will get to add military shooter Unit 13 and beast-slayer Monster Hunter: Freedom Unite to their download queues. Those with copies of Monster Hunter Freedom 2 can transfer their data to Freedom Unite to continue progressing their characters. Penny-pinchers would also be wise to remember the Back to 2013 and Vita anniversary sales Sony is hosting at the moment. The sales offer discounts on games like Hotline Miami, Escape Plan, Flower, Killzone Mercenary, Tales of Xillia, Dragon's Crown, Ni no Kuni and more. [Image: SCEA]
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Tomb Raider PS4, Xbox One drops to $40 in Amazon sale today
Amazon roped in Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition for its Deal of the Day this morning, reducing Lara's enhanced PS4 and Xbox One debut to $40 just a few weeks after launch. If your eyes are arrowing towards the purchase button, you've got until midnight PT, 3AM on Wednesday ET to grab yourself the discount. Lara's latest adventure, Definitive or otherwise, notched an impressive fifth place in Our Top 10 of 2013 list, with Community Manager and Comments Raider Anthony John Agnello calling it a "a prequel that works because it makes story the centerpiece." [Image: Square Enix]
Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition more definitive on PS4, says Digital Foundry
Now that Tomb Raider has made its way to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the techie aesthetics experts at Digital Foundry have used their bag of tools to compare the graphics found in these new versions of the game. End result: The PlayStation 4 release pulls ahead ever so slightly. Though it's been known that the PlayStation 4's Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition can reach 60 frames per second (though not at all times) while the Xbox One game runs slower, Digital Foundry has also discovered that certain cutscenes in the Xbox One game are reduced to 900p resolution. Oddly, this resolution change only applies to those select vignettes, while the game itself maintains its high-definition 1080p visuals. Further, Digital Foundry finds certain graphical bells and whistles lacking in the Xbox One game, saying "alpha-based effects in certain areas give the appearance of rendering at half resolution - though other examples do look much cleaner. We also see a lower-quality depth of field in cut-scenes, and reduced levels of anisotropic filtering on artwork during gameplay. Curiously, there are also a few lower-resolution textures in places on Xbox One, but this seems to be down to a bug (perhaps on level of detail transitions) as opposed to a conscious downgrade." While Digital Foundry ranks the PlayStation 4 game above the Xbox One version for pure graphical splendor, the comparison also notes that neither of the next-generation games runs as well as the original, 2013 release of Tomb Raider on a modern gaming PC. Both of the console games, however, feature more built-in content and an improved 3D model for Lara Croft.
PSN Tuesday: Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, free Smart As on PS Plus
This week's PlayStation Network content update is now live. You'll find downloads for Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition and Dragonball Z: Battle of Z, as well as the option to pre-order Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII ahead of its February 11 launch. There's also a pretty tempting cross-buy enabled Curve Studios bundle, which includes Thomas Was Alone, Stealth Inc., Lone Survivor and Proteus. PS Plus subscribers can grab a free copy of Smart As..., a brain-training game for the PS VIta starring John Cleese, and all PSN users can sift through deals on select Final Fantasy and Assassin's Creed content this week. Permanent price drops have been extended to Batman: Arkham Origins, Grid 2, Killer is Dead and more, so hit up the PlayStation Blog if you want the full rundown. Image: Square Enix
Joystiq Streams: Definitively playing Tomb Raider on PlayStation 4 [UPDATE: It's over!]
Joystiq Streams doesn't shy away from the difficult challenges. When we're thrown down a cavernous chasm, impaled on a piece of rebar, and forced to rescue our closest friends from deranged cultists, we don't take the easy way out! No, sir. We grit our teeth and keep it on hard mode. Truth is, none of those things have ever happened to the Joystiq crew, but they do happen to Lara Croft in the first moments of Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition for PlayStation 4, which we'll be streaming today at 4p.m. EST on the Joystiq Twitch channel. A glutton for punishment, Anthony John Agnello will be playing on hard and trying to only use melee and bow and arrow attacks in an attempt to prove that his survival skills have improved since our Don't Starve stream. Alexander Sliwinski will be hanging in the chat feeding your questions to the man on controls. See you there!
Tomb Raider's definitive launch trailer
Lady Croft's definitive next-gen edition launches next week on Xbox One and PS4, and here's the trailer to go along with it featuring full TressFX. But, honestly, watching this will make anyone who has gone through the survival experience want to travel the path of the warrior once again.
Tomb Raider arrows onto Mac, out now
Mac owners can raid some rebooted tombs starting today, with Crystal Dynamics' 2013 edition of Tomb Raider out now on the App Store for $50. A word of warning: The App Store version doesn't feature online multiplayer, but Mac ports specialist Feral Interactive says other versions are on the way next week on January 30. PS4 and Xbox One owners are up next on January 28, with those platforms being treated to Definitive Editions. If you're wondering what exactly makes those versions Definitive, check out the graphical improvements which include improved texturing, a more detailed Lara model, and even silkier hair graphics - because she's worth it.
Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition shines spotlight on silky hair graphics
Maybe she's born with it? Maybe it's TressFX. Here's another look at the next-gen Lara coming to PS4 and Xbox One on January 28 in Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition. She could use a spa day if we're being honest.
Tomb Raider sales broke even by the end of 2013
Though publisher Square Enix originally lamented its lower-than-expected post-launch sales figures, Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider earned back its development costs by the end of 2013, executive producer Scot Amos told Eurogamer this week. "By the end of last year - Tomb Raider is in the black," Amos said. "We've crossed the line of profitability for the last-gen and PC versions." Despite its record-setting first-week performance and sales that topped 4 million units worldwide in the months following its launch, Tomb Raider was characterized by Square Enix as a financial disappointment. The publisher cited "weak" sales for Tomb Raider and other published games as factors driving its financial losses for the 2013 fiscal year. An upgraded reissue of Tomb Raider for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 titled Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition is due for release on January 28.
Square Enix concludes Core Online (not an MMO)
Asking the existential question "What is Core Online?" is a good place to start and one wouldn't be alone in asking. Cutting to the chase: Square Enix has "discontinued" Core online... CoreOnline... Core(Registered Trademark)Online? Even we have no clue. Anyway, it was the company's attempt to make HD games playable via browser. It was flawed from the start. "Due to limited commercial take-up of this initiative it's no longer something we will be supporting and CoreOnline will be closing on Friday 29th November 2013," notes a Square Enix statement in the company's support forums. "Anyone who has bought a game will be fully refunded and anyone who has an unexpired subscription on 29th November 2013 will be refunded for their most recent subscription payment. Users whose subscription periods have expired before 29th November 2013 will not be entitled to a refund." Square Enix is currently reforming its AAA business, following a major restructuring and executive realignment last year.
Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition boasts 1080p resolution, 'buttery framerate'
Crystal Dynamics has detailed the numerous improvements players can expect to see in the upcoming PlayStation 4 and Xbox One release of Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, explaining that the new port is "a colossal effort, soaked in visual enhancements and technical optimizations." The game will run at a native 1080p resolution on the PS4 and Xbox One, and will be bolstered by a "buttery framerate" throughout. The new port is bundled with all of the game's previously released multiplayer DLC, along with the bonus The Tomb of the Lost Adventurer add-on, six alternate outfits, and a collection of digital comic books and documentary featurettes. Lara herself has also seen an upgrade for the upcoming port, as Crystal Dynamics has implemented a new head and face model for the game's misfortune-prone protagonist, along with subsurface scattering technology that results in more realistic skin glow. While a handful of games released last year for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 were available at a discounted rate for buyers who wished to upgrade to PS4 and Xbox One versions, Eidos notes that it will not offer a Definitive Edition discount for players who purchased a previous version of Tomb Raider on any platform. The company additionally revealed that Definitive Edition's upgrades are exclusive to current-gen consoles; an update for the Windows PC version of Tomb Raider is "not planned." Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition will be priced at $59.99 when it launches in North America on January 28.
Joystiq Top 10 of 2013: Tomb Raider
Team Joystiq is barging into 2014 with a celebration of last year's best games. Keep reading throughout the week to see our assembly of ingenious indies and triple-A triumphs. Lara Croft has now spent approximately half her life with Crystal Dynamics, but it was only In 2013 that their relationship truly bloomed. In the past, Tomb Raider games excelled through a zesty blend of platforming, exploration, and silly gunplay. As adventures to play and romp through, they were riveting, but ask what they were about beyond physical features and it'd be hard to come up with an answer. Tomb Raider was the series about the lady in the short shorts jumping through Incan booby traps, not tales about people changing and growing. They weren't human. In rebooting the series, Crystal Dynamics finally broke totally free of the mold defining what a Tomb Raider game could be. They made it a good story.
Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition confirmed for Xbox One, PS4
As an ad on Spike's VGX site suggested earlier today, Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition is scheduled for a shipwreck on the PS4 and Xbox One in January 28. The Definitive Edition will include improved visuals, including TressFX, and all of the previously released multiplayer DLC. It will not support 3D visuals like the PC version. Definitive Edition is a collaborative effort between Crystal Dynamics, Nixxes and United Front Games. It's also already available for pre-order on Amazon. Ports of this year's Tomb Raider reboot were hinted at last month when Xbox One and PS4 versions were listed on Brazil's rating board. At that time, Amazon Italy also briefly hosted a PS4 listing for the Definitive Edition.
Ad suggests Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition for Xbox One, PS4
An ad for Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition has appeared on Spike's VGX website, noting a release date of January 28 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It encourages viewers to "watch the trailer," but clicking through to the game's site does not currently lead to a trailer for Definitive Edition. This year's reboot was supported with multiplayer DLC, but developer Crystal Dynamics noted in March that it did not have plans for single-player DLC. The contents of Definitive Edition will likely be revealed during tonight's awards show.
Xbox Live Black Friday deals on now through December 2
Microsoft is heavily discounting 52 Xbox 360 games and add-ons this week on Xbox Live. The games on sale separate out into three categories, a full list of which can be found after the break. The week-long deals, which run from today through December 2, include both Skyrim, Fallout 3 and Tomb Raider for half-off as well as Sleeping Dogs (38 percent off) and Mark of the Ninja (66 percent off). Xbox Live will feature two separate one-day sales as well, with games like WWE 2K14 and Diablo 3 being discounted by 33 percent as well as Rayman Legends and the Halo 4 Champions Bundle by 50 percent on November 29 only. Among the games on sale for Cyber Monday (December 2) only are Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, Red Dead Redemption, Dark Souls and The Witcher 2 for 75 percent off each and Battleblock Theater for 67 percent off. We suggest you clear some space on your Xbox 360 hard drive, pronto.
Tomb Raider next-gen reveal teased, ports classified
A VGX reveal of Xbox One and PlayStation 4 ports for Tomb Raider is on the cards, after Square Enix responded teasingly to rumors this week. The Crystal Dynamics game cropped up on Brazil's ratings board with PS4 and Xbox One versions listed, while an Amazon Italy page (now removed) pointed to a PS4 port titled Tomb Raider: Definitive Version. "It's so hard to keep a secret these days!" a Square Enix representative told IGN when approached. "We appreciate all of the enthusiasm, however we don't have any details to share just yet. That said, we highly recommend you keep an eye on any major gaming events happening in early December." Given Square Enix's fondness for not responding to "rumor and speculation," we'd say it's time to raise some eyebrows. We can't say it doesn't make sense either: Lara's gritty reboot sold 4 million copies across five months on the current generation, and a next-gen port would help to stir interest in the already announced next-gen sequel. Or, Square Enix could just be being coy about revealing that sequel rather than any ports, regardless of any classifications or listings. We don't know what to read into the publisher's playful winks and knowing smiles, but it seems likely we'll get some Tomb Raider news in a couple of weeks, when Spike TV's VGX awards show hits our screens on December 7.
