Square Enix may have borne the brunt of a backlash when it stated that sales for Crystal Dynamics’ Tomb Raider reboot proved to be underwhelming shortly after release, but fast forward two years and new figures have revealed that the well-received retelling of Lara Croft’s origin story is now the best-selling entry in the franchise with 8.5 million copies sold.
In tandem with the announcement, the studio’s David Gallagher touched upon the game’s blistering success, and how it injected the series with some much-needed vitality following an unofficial hiatus.
Tomb Raider ignited and expanded the fan base, pushing the series to a new level. The game’s incredible sales success reflects the passionate response of players. Our studio is proud of what we accomplished with the game.
Without doubt, last year’s Definitive Edition helped push the title toward this record-breaking feat, though that doesn’t take anything away from the innate quality of Crystal Dynamics’ title, as it proved to be one of the best releases of the year back in 2013. According to the report, total franchise sales are now north of 40 million.
Now, excitement is slowly starting to build ahead of the release of Rise of the Tomb Raider, which is expected to make its debut on Xbox platforms first later this year. However, given the recent delays to Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Remedy’s Quantum Break, don’t be too surprised if the sequel proves to be another triple-A title to be pushed into 2016.
What do you think of these sales figures for Tomb Raider, though? Let us know down below.