I recently wrote this article on whether or not the new Rise of the Tomb Raider was doomed for being an Xbox-exclusive game. Sure enough, the exclusivity was only timed as it was confirmed today that the game will be releasing on PS4 and PC in early 2016. But is it too little too late?
It’s great that the new Tomb Raider game will be reaching as many gamers as possible, but has the damage already been done? Tomb Raider – a franchise once renowned for having its iconic iterations on PlayStation – was recently thrown into turmoil when Microsoft confirmed that the new game would be releasing first on Xbox One. As you can imagine, many hardcore Tomb Raider fans are also PlayStation loyalists, and so the news wasn’t exactly welcome to a large number of people.
With Uncharted 4 A Thief’s End also delayed into 2016, it looked set to be a torrid time for PlayStation owners. So if you’re a comittied PlayStation gamer who once had a passion for the Tomb Raider series, are you okay with the turn of events? Does it feel as though Crystal Dynamics has betrayed your crowd somewhat, or are you able to see the deal as the nature of the industry in this day and age? If Microsoft offered the studio more money to have the game on Xbox first, it would obviously be foolish, at least financially, to refuse that offer.
Are you willing to forgive the developers and look forward to what should be a great game regardless? After all, the game is ultimately coming out on all the major platforms at some point in the near future, so should we squabble over who’s getting it first? Should we consider ourselves lucky that Microsoft didn’t buy the IP outright? That would have caused a real outrage.
Personally, I see the whole fiasco as being a simple business decision. I can understand why PlayStation gamers would be upset, but ultimately I don’t think they should be too bitter over the whole situation because the game will end up on their console eventually anyway. Plus, knowing the state in which video games are released nowadays, the game will probably be fully patched up and glitch-free by the time it makes its way to PS4, having stumbled on day one on the Xbox One. It’s a possibility. Just saying.