Rise of the Tomb Raider released to critical praise, but reportedly poor sales. However, developer Crystal Dynamics believes it’s more about the excellent reviews the game has earned than whatever sales it may have suffered.
Posting in a Tomb Raider forum, game director Brian Horton said Microsoft and the game’s publisher, Square Enix, are “very happy” with the game and how it turned out.
“There was suggestion in the thread that the reported sales numbers reflect poorly on the dev team,” he said. “Square/Microsoft are happy with Crystal and [co-developer Eidos Montreal] and the game itself. As to the topic of sales, I’m unqualified to discuss it so I won’t have anything else to say on this thread.”
In another post, he added, “Microsoft and Square are very happy with Rise and the dev team, thanks for the concerns. Crystal and Eidos Montreal made a game we are proud of and we appreciate the overwhelming number of positive reviews and fan feedback.”
In our review of Rise of the Tomb Raider, we said, “Lara’s latest adventure in Rise of the Tomb Raider is a beautiful step-up from 2013’s Tomb Raider reboot. Improving upon its predecessor in almost every way, Rise of the Tomb Raider opens in its first 10 minutes with magnificent scope and pulse-pounding scenery that only grow bigger over its 20-hour campaign. Developer Crystal Dynamics presents a magnificent story and immersive gameplay, despite not always putting the game’s best parts at the forefront. Rise of the Tomb Raider takes what was already a great game and makes it stronger, bigger and better.”