Tombs. Raiding. They go together so well. But it’s been a while since that last Tomb Raider trilogy concluded, and aside from a brief tease a while back, we haven’t had the slightest hint of the next time we could join Lara Croft in her adventures again. Until today. During today’s State of Unreal 2022 event, Crystal Dynamics announced that it is working on a new Tomb Raider game and using Unreal Engine 5 (UE5) to build it. Additionally, Unreal Engine 5 is officially available to everyone now, along with a version of The Matrix Awakens and a sample shooter game for developers to experiment with called Lyra.
Crystal Dynamics is incredibly excited about the future of Unreal and how it will help us take our storytelling to the next level. That's why we're proud to announce that our next #tombraider game is being built on Unreal Engine 5! pic.twitter.com/UFMiWzJAZc
— Tomb Raider (@tombraider) April 5, 2022
Details are scarce, but the game is described as a “high-quality cinematic action-adventure experience,” which would be in line with the franchise itself and especially the rebooted trilogy that concluded in 2018 with Shadow of the Tomb Raider. In the announcement, Crystal Dynamics staff said that they have just started the development of the new Tomb Raider in UE5, so it’s going to be a long while before we see anything from it. However, last year, Crystal Dynamics game director Will Kerslake did say that the game would begin bridging the gap between the new trilogy and the more experienced Lara we saw in the original games.
After Marvel’s Avengers came out of the gate to a collective shrug, the studio probably wants to reassure everyone that it has something good coming down the pipeline. The studio is also working on Microsoft’s new Perfect Dark game, but considering that project is also having reportedly significant difficulties at The Initiative, a new Tomb Raider in Unreal Engine 5 is definitely the most exciting news for Crystal Dynamics.
This developer, alongside CD Projekt Red, is one of the biggest ones to announce it’s using Unreal Engine 5, though it definitely won’t be the last now that the engine is available to everyone for use.
