Crystal Dynamics has plans to unify Lara Croft’s two canonical timelines as the Tomb Raider franchise observes its 25th anniversary, the studio said in a Twitter video Wednesday afternoon.
Official celebrations of Tomb Raider’s silver anniversary will start Feb. 1, said Meagan Marie, Crystal Dynamics’ community manager. Marie also pointed to the Tomb Raider Netflix animated series, announced Wednesday, which also threads into this official, unified timeline. The Tomb Raider anime is set after the events of the video game reboot trilogy, which comprises 2013’s Tomb Raider, 2015’蝉 Rise of the Tomb Raider, and 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
We're celebrating 25 Years of Tomb Raider throughout 2021, with community features, nostalgic content, and surprises along the way! pic.twitter.com/cOmsfVj8jr
— Tomb Raider (@tombraider) January 27, 2021
Down the road, said franchise game director Will Kerslake, “We envision a future of Tomb Raider unfolding after these established adventures” — referring to both the Core Design-developed games (1996’s Tomb Raider through 2003’s Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness) and the series in the hands of Crystal Dynamics since 2006’s Tomb Raider: Legend.
Although Crystal Dynamics has no major game announcement to make “in the near future,” the studio is “working to unify these timelines,” Kerslake said.
“With Tomb Raider’s extensive history, this is not an easy task, and we ask for your patience as we go through the development process,” he added.