Microsoft Grabs Rise of the Tomb Raider in Xbox Exclusive - Update

[Rozalia1]

... You know I heard someone put it like this. Tomb Raider and Uncharted will release around the same time and being dueling games they might be worried their sales might be eradicated on the PS4 by owners buying uncharted instead of Tomb Raider...so they take Microsoft's money now, avoid Uncharted essentially and in 2016 they release on the other platforms whereupon they believe everyone who is currently angry will buy the game anyway whatever they are saying.
Put like that it does actually sound quite smart...but it can of course backfire and will undoubtedly sour their reputation.

For example I'm not going to be getting Dead Rising 3 for the PC whatever price it gets slapped down to simply because of their exclusivity nonsense. First game being exclusive was fine, second (which was multiplat) having DLC shenanigans I could stomach, the third making the series "exclusive" again just made me go nope.

 

[unstabLized]

I really hope this is a timed exclusive. If it was on PS4, it could be more forgiving for me since I might pick one up anyway, when some more games come out, but Xbox One? Fuck no. I'm staying as far away from Microsoft as possible. Plus Tomb Raider is not a system seller. Far from it.

I really hope it makes it onto PC. Tomb Raider was an awesome game, so much that I played it 2-3 times.

 

[RealRT]

Meanwhile Sony will have the same game but better with Uncharted 4.

 

[BloodSquirrel]

Nintendo or Sony gets an exclusive: "Good job! That's another reason to buy your console!"

MS gets an exclusive: "What? How dare they! I'll show them by refusing to buy their console!"

You can always rely on the Escapist for an absurd level of anti-MS bias.

Given Squeenix's financials, it's quite possible that funding from MS was extremely helpful in getting them game out in the first place.

 

[erbkaiser]

Confirmed to be a timed exclusive [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-08-13-microsoft-confirms-rise-of-the-tomb-raider-xbox-exclusivity-deal-has-a-duration]. Well, that's something. I'll buy it in a year or two on discount for my PS4.

 

[G00N3R7883]

Confirmed to be a timed exclusive [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-08-13-microsoft-confirms-rise-of-the-tomb-raider-xbox-exclusivity-deal-has-a-duration]. Well, that's something. I'll buy it in a year or two on discount for my PS4.

Still shrouded in confusing corporate speak. He kept referring to the "franchise" rather than the specific game Rise of the Tomb Raider. It might mean the game after that can go to other platforms. It might be referring to the Osiris spin off. I am feeling a bit better about this, but I just would like 100% clarity. Hopefully if Microsoft are willing to open up in this interview, SE or CD might be allowed to explain in more detail. I own a 360 as well as my PC so worst case I could potentially enjoy a lower quality version (but I would still feel bad for anyone who missed out).

 

[Tien Shen]

I wonder how much money Microsoft flashed to get CD to jump on a sinking boat. And when the game sales tank due to it being stuck on 1 platform (and not even the market leader), how fast will SE kill the franchise.

 

[Beliyal]

Nintendo or Sony gets an exclusive: "Good job! That's another reason to buy your console!"

MS gets an exclusive: "What? How dare they! I'll show them by refusing to buy their console!"

You can always rely on the Escapist for an absurd level of anti-MS bias.

Given Squeenix's financials, it's quite possible that funding from MS was extremely helpful in getting them game out in the first place.

Well, the problem here is that Tomb Raider has always been a multiplatform game and always had (and still has) an amazing fan following on both PC and the PS, and now it's suddenly no longer available to 2/3 fans. Many of those fans, such as myself, have been following the franchise for a decade or more (15 years in my case). Am I pissed off that I won't be able to play this? Yes, I am.

I don't mind exclusives that start as exclusives and are just that. I mean, I'd like if more games were multiplatform, but I know the deal. I won't get to see The Last of us on the PC and I know that since the beginning. But Tomb Raider has been available to the PC and PS since 1996. To say that this is surprising is putting it mildly. By the way, if they announced that TR is going to be exclusive for either one platform, I'd be equally baffled. But at least the PC and the PS are most associated with the franchise, so one of those would at least make some little bit of sense.

Now, I know that everyone is saying that this is going to be a timed exclusive. It may very well be that, but I am afraid that the franchise won't survive this cutting of more than a half of its fanbase. Square Enix whined about selling "only" 5 million copies of the 2013 TR, how many do they expect to sell now? They sure as hell won't sell more than they did on three platforms (five if we count the definitive edition, which btw, sold twice as much on a PS4). When the bad numbers come rolling in, I doubt they are going to be satisfied with the game's performance and they will most likely blame it on everything other than their supid ass decision. I don't want my favourite franchise to become a sacrifice for someone's temporary greed and/or lack of insight.

I have no idea what to make of this, it cannot be that they are this blinded, I keep trying to figure out a catch, but I'm afraid there is none. I'll just hope that they won't destroy Tomb Raider and that the exclusive (timed or not) is not going to affect the franchise in the worst possible way.

 

[Zeraki]

Nintendo or Sony gets an exclusive: "Good job! That's another reason to buy your console!"

MS gets an exclusive: "What? How dare they! I'll show them by refusing to buy their console!"

You can always rely on the Escapist for an absurd level of anti-MS bias.

Given Squeenix's financials, it's quite possible that funding from MS was extremely helpful in getting them game out in the first place.

I take it you weren't here when people flipped their shit over Bayonetta 2 becoming a Wii U exclusive then?

If this were an Xbone exclusive to begin with (like say Sunset Overdrive) then people wouldn't have a problem, but since it was originally meant to be multi-platform until Microsoft threw money at them, people are rightfully pissed off.

 

[shintakie10]

Nintendo or Sony gets an exclusive: "Good job! That's another reason to buy your console!"

MS gets an exclusive: "What? How dare they! I'll show them by refusing to buy their console!"

You can always rely on the Escapist for an absurd level of anti-MS bias.

Given Squeenix's financials, it's quite possible that funding from MS was extremely helpful in getting them game out in the first place.

I take it you weren't here when people flipped their shit over Bayonetta 2 becoming a Wii U exclusive then?

If this were an Xbone exclusive to begin with (like say Sunset Overdrive) then people wouldn't have a problem, but since it was originally meant to be multi-platform until Microsoft threw money at them, people are rightfully pissed off.

There's a difference between Bayonetta 2 and this and it still pisses me off that people flip their shit about Bayonetta 2.

Bayonetta 2 would not have happened if Nintendo had not published it. Period. End of story. There would be no Bayonetta 2 at all because no publisher would take it except Nintendo. That's why its a friggin Wii U exclusive. It wouldn't have existed without Nintendo's support.

Tomb Raider would easily have gotten a sequel without the bags of cash that Microsoft gave Square for the exclusivity deal.

 

[Tony2077]

Nintendo or Sony gets an exclusive: "Good job! That's another reason to buy your console!"

MS gets an exclusive: "What? How dare they! I'll show them by refusing to buy their console!"

You can always rely on the Escapist for an absurd level of anti-MS bias.

Given Squeenix's financials, it's quite possible that funding from MS was extremely helpful in getting them game out in the first place.

I take it you weren't here when people flipped their shit over Bayonetta 2 becoming a Wii U exclusive then?

If this were an Xbone exclusive to begin with (like say Sunset Overdrive) then people wouldn't have a problem, but since it was originally meant to be multi-platform until Microsoft threw money at them, people are rightfully pissed off.

There's a difference between Bayonetta 2 and this and it still pisses me off that people flip their shit about Bayonetta 2.

Bayonetta 2 would not have happened if Nintendo had not published it. Period. End of story. There would be no Bayonetta 2 at all because no publisher would take it except Nintendo. That's why its a friggin Wii U exclusive. It wouldn't have existed without Nintendo's support.

Tomb Raider would easily have gotten a sequel without the bags of cash that Microsoft gave Square for the exclusivity deal.

for some people never happening would have been better since they will never get a wii u

 

[lacktheknack]

Oh thank heavens, it's timed.

SE is guaranteed to port it everywhere else, since it took them so long to reach target sales last time around.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

Nintendo or Sony gets an exclusive: "Good job! That's another reason to buy your console!"

MS gets an exclusive: "What? How dare they! I'll show them by refusing to buy their console!"

You can always rely on the Escapist for an absurd level of anti-MS bias.

Given Squeenix's financials, it's quite possible that funding from MS was extremely helpful in getting them game out in the first place.

Sony and Nintendo's tend towards in-house devs that typically never see a multiplatform release, (see The Last of Us, insert Mario title here etc).

Tomb Raider however was a multiplatform for years, so people are a little pissed at this blatant enforced scaristy by Squeeix and MS.

Also when Nintendo did something similar by becoming publishers for Platinum Games Bayonetta 2 people here flipped their shit as well.

 

[Zeraki]

Nintendo or Sony gets an exclusive: "Good job! That's another reason to buy your console!"

MS gets an exclusive: "What? How dare they! I'll show them by refusing to buy their console!"

You can always rely on the Escapist for an absurd level of anti-MS bias.

Given Squeenix's financials, it's quite possible that funding from MS was extremely helpful in getting them game out in the first place.

I take it you weren't here when people flipped their shit over Bayonetta 2 becoming a Wii U exclusive then?

If this were an Xbone exclusive to begin with (like say Sunset Overdrive) then people wouldn't have a problem, but since it was originally meant to be multi-platform until Microsoft threw money at them, people are rightfully pissed off.

There's a difference between Bayonetta 2 and this and it still pisses me off that people flip their shit about Bayonetta 2.

Bayonetta 2 would not have happened if Nintendo had not published it. Period. End of story. There would be no Bayonetta 2 at all because no publisher would take it except Nintendo. That's why its a friggin Wii U exclusive. It wouldn't have existed without Nintendo's support.

I'm well aware of the circumstances behind Bayonetta 2's exclusivity. What I was trying to get across was that people here on this site still got/get pissed off about it, so BloodSquirrel's claim that Nintendo and Sony get a free pass is simply not true.

Hell, up until relatively recently Nintendo was this community's favorite punching bag.

 

[Rozalia1]

I'd say I called it but so did practically everyone else...more specifically that guy was right. They were scared of Uncharted and instead of delaying their game they duped Microsoft into giving them a pointless (to Microsoft) exclusivity deal.
They'll release at the same time as uncharted, go relatively unaffected by uncharted, pocket Microsoft's cash, and than release it later on the PS3/PS4/PC safe from uncharted.

They underestimate the damage they've done to their rep though with that stunt, and Microsoft are complete idiots as the deal in no way benefits them. That big bag of cash could have been spent on having a studio make them their own "tomb raider", but no that isn't how Microsoft does business as short term is where its at.

 

[Lightknight]

All this will create is the possibility of bad ports (and there will be ports, that much is certain) and crappy release sales. Xbone exclusive isn't that great of a thing right now.

Not really, it's not as big of an issue with everything being x86 nowadays. That made sense back when everything was proprietary.

They still somehow manage it but yes it is a lesser chance.

No. Now that the XBO and PS4 are basically just PCs thanks to the x86 architecture it isn't a "somehow manage" scenario. Porting has never been and will never been easier than it is right now.

 

[marscentral]

Nintendo or Sony gets an exclusive: "Good job! That's another reason to buy your console!"

MS gets an exclusive: "What? How dare they! I'll show them by refusing to buy their console!"

You can always rely on the Escapist for an absurd level of anti-MS bias.

Given Squeenix's financials, it's quite possible that funding from MS was extremely helpful in getting them game out in the first place.

Totally agree. When I complained about Destiny having timed exclusive items and maps for Playstation everyone was like, "oh you'll get it eventually, it's no big deal" even though I'll be paying the same as they are. Well, what goes around comes around. I'm not a huge Tomb Raider fan, but I think I'll definitely get this, do my part to encourage more Xbox One exclusives.

 

[LysanderNemoinis]

Nintendo or Sony gets an exclusive: "Good job! That's another reason to buy your console!"

MS gets an exclusive: "What? How dare they! I'll show them by refusing to buy their console!"

You can always rely on the Escapist for an absurd level of anti-MS bias.

Given Squeenix's financials, it's quite possible that funding from MS was extremely helpful in getting them game out in the first place.

I take it you weren't here when people flipped their shit over Bayonetta 2 becoming a Wii U exclusive then?

If this were an Xbone exclusive to begin with (like say Sunset Overdrive) then people wouldn't have a problem, but since it was originally meant to be multi-platform until Microsoft threw money at them, people are rightfully pissed off.

There's a difference between Bayonetta 2 and this and it still pisses me off that people flip their shit about Bayonetta 2.

Bayonetta 2 would not have happened if Nintendo had not published it. Period. End of story. There would be no Bayonetta 2 at all because no publisher would take it except Nintendo. That's why its a friggin Wii U exclusive. It wouldn't have existed without Nintendo's support.

Tomb Raider would easily have gotten a sequel without the bags of cash that Microsoft gave Square for the exclusivity deal.

Glad to hear Tomb Raider's just a timed exclusive. But if it had stayed completely exclusive, it would have been the same to me as Bayonetta 2. As someone who's going to get a PS4 eventually, it makes no difference if Bayo2 is on the WiiU or never made at all, because I'll never get to play it. I have no desire to buy a system simply for one game, because that's pretty much the only one the WiiU has that I care about.
I hope Ninty gave Platinum Games a metric crapton of dough for it, because that's all the money they'll be making. Your average Bayonetta fan probably isn't the type of person to get a WiiU (just like they probably didn't get a Wii), so it's probably going to sell even less copies than the original did. While it's no where near as big as something like Halo or Mario, imagine if both of those series had jumped ship to PS4. Or if the next Uncharted went to Xbone.
Regardless of whether or not Bayonetta 2 would have been made or not without Nintendo's intervention, to the fans of the game it's the same as if it had never been made. And it's still insulting to the original fans, because if it hadn't be for all the PS3 and 360 gamers, there never would have been the interest (small though it was) for Nintendo to give Bayonetta so much as a second look. Because Platinum Games apparently doesn't care about their loyal fans, as far as I'm concerned they can fuck right off.

 

[Scrythe]

Tomb Raider[/I] sequel."

I think we all know the real reason why [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpbbuaIA3Ds], Crystal Dynamics.

As for the "No one would ***** if it were Sony!" bandwagon above, you guys are certainly doing the job. I have full confidence in you fine folks coming out of the woodworks when this situation happens with Sony, so don't let us all down.

 

[ryukage_sama]

Was releasing it on the 360 some sort of concession to Square Enix? If it's not exclusive for your new console, it fails as a means to push adoption of the XBONE. I'll be waiting for my PC release regardless (beautiful, beautiful TressFX), but it seems desperate and stupid. Sony doesn't follow this nonsense since Killzone and Second Son weren't released on the PS3. Sony is succeeding in selling their new consoles while continuing to release new games for the PS3.

Come on Microsoft! I defend you as not being the MOST evil of corporations, but you're not doing yourself any favors here.

And Square Enix, well Jim Stirling has them covered.