Yesterday’s revelation that Rise of the Tomb Raider would be an Xbox exclusive led many to scratch their heads/pick up their pitchforks: why was a series that first made its name on the PlayStation suddenly solely appearing on Microsoft’s consoles? However, now that question has been answered… sort of.
Speaking to Eurogamer, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has said that Rise of the Tomb Raider will only remain exclusive to the Xbox One and Xbox 360 for a limited period of time, though he didn’t reveal how long that would be.
According to Spencer, after the exclusivity deal between Microsoft and Tomb Raider publisher Square Enix has finished, Square will be free to do as they please with the game and release it on the PS4/PS3 if they wish.
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Spencer said: “I have Tomb Raider shipping next holiday exclusively on Xbox. It is Xbox 360 and Xbox One. I’m not trying to fake anybody out in terms of where this thing is. What they do with the franchise in the long run is not mine. I don’t control it. So all I can talk about is the deal I have. I don’t know where else Tomb Raider goes.”
He added: “The deal has a duration. I didn’t buy it. I don’t own the franchise.”
A similar situation happened with both Dead Rising 3 and Ryse: Son of Rome, with both of those games previously launching exclusively on the Xbox One before being announced for the PC a little while later. However, both of those games were published by Microsoft Studios, so they were never going to make their way to Sony’s console – with Square Enix being a third-party publisher, it is likely that Rise of the Tomb Raider will eventually come to the PS4, though a specific date has not been given in regards to the end of Microsoft’s exclusivity deal.
When Spencer was asked if he could reveal when the deal will expire, he replied: “No. It’s not because I’m trying to be a headfake on anybody. It’s a deal between us and the partner. People ask me how much did we pay. There are certain things I’m just not going to talk about because it’s a business deal between us and then. Obviously the deal does have a duration. I didn’t buy the IP in perpetuity.”
So there you have it. While this will be a small comfort to PS4/PS3 owners who were excited for Rise of the Tomb Raider and feel a little screwed over about it making its way to the Xbox as an exclusive, at least it won’t stay that way forever.
