When Rise of the Tomb Raider was revealed at E3, its status as an Xbox exclusive title was a little murky. For a while, it seemed that the sequel would be a timed exclusive, but that issue may have finally been put to rest.
Speaking to a fan on Twitter, Aaron Greenberg, Head of Marketing for Xbox Games, confirmed that Microsoft will handle publishing duties for the upcoming game.
@diosmekemeke Yes we are publishing Rise of the Tomb Raider.
— Aaron Greenberg (@aarongreenberg) December 8, 2014
So, there you have it, Rise of the Tomb Raider appears to be an Xbox One/Xbox 360 exclusive, and not just on a timed basis. Since Microsoft will be publishing the title, though, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it show up on the PC at some point following its release next year. That would be similar to the situation that occurred with Xbox One launch titles Dead Rising 3 and Ryse: Son of Rome.
As bad as this sounds for PlayStation owners, things may not be as dire as they seem. If you recall, during the previous console generation, Microsoft published both Mass Effect and Ninja Gaiden 2, both of which ended up coming to the PlayStation 3 following a period of exclusivity. Big name titles such as Rise of the Tomb Raider rarely stay exclusive, so if I were a betting man, I would say that the sequel will show up on the PlayStation 4 at some point in time.
We will continue to have coverage of Rise of the Tomb Raider in the lead-up to its late 2015 release, so stay tuned!