When Tomb Raider: Catalyst, the next Tomb Raider game from Crystal Dynamics, releases next year, in 2027, via the PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X, it will reportedly be with a major change to the series’ formula. It has been eight calendar years since the release of the last mainline Tomb Raider game, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, so fans of the action-adventure series don’t just have anticipation that has been building up, but expectations that this game will evolve the series. A new report teases this very thing.
According to the X account, V Scooper, who was the first to leak the game’s setting back in 2024, Tomb Raider Catalyst is going to be fully open world, a first for the series. In the past, some games have been semi-open-world, but the series has never embraced a truly and fully open-world design. That is apparently changing, though.
New Details on the New Tomb Raider Game
“As I previously reported, snowy mountains, jungles, and deserts coexist,” claims the leaker. “They’re all visible on the horizon, with landmarks. This reads as a single continuous map, not isolated regions.”
For what it is worth, this lines up with the game’s debut trailer released last month that seems to hint at a large open-world. It also lines up with Crystal Dynamics saying it’s the biggest game in the series to date.
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Given the recent track record of Crystal Dynamics, it’s hard to have much confidence in Tomb Raider: Catalyst, let alone when it’s trying something new and ambitious. Tomb Raider is still a popular IP, and there has been a drought of games in it for a little bit now. To this end, it probably would have been safer to keep things simple and safe.
If Tomb Raider: Catalyst is open-world and at the production scale of previous games in the series, then this is going to be a very expensive project, especially by the standards of parent company Embracer Group. As you may know, Embracer Group is also a company that has closed many studios in recent years. Last time out, Crystal Dynamics had an expensive flop in the form of 2020’s Marvel’s Avengers. It likely can’t afford to have two high-profile and expensive flops in a row.
All of that said, remember to take this new and unofficial information with a grain of salt. Nothing here is official. Meanwhile, and as always, feel free to leave a comment letting us know what you think, or join the conversation over on the ComicBook Forum. Is this the right call from Crystal Dynamics?