Fans eager to hear more about the next Tomb Raider game are still being kept rather in the dark, with Lara Croft popping up in a number of other game collaborations instead of her own standalone adventure.
Since Shadow of the Tomb Raider wrapped back in 2018, Lara has appeared in the likes of Netflix’s animated series, as well as Brawlhalla, Call of Duty, Dead by Daylight, Magic the Gathering, Fall Guys, Pinball FX, and now even World of Tanks as a part of a themed Battle Pass chapter. She’s again being voiced by Keeley Hawes here, in my opinion the best Lara.
The new trailer for World of Tanks, which you can see below, does give Tomb Raider fans like myself another look at Lara’s unified design. As a reminder, the Tomb Raider team has said it will be uniting the original Tomb Raider games with the recent ‘Survivor’ trilogy reboots – which began in 2013 – in its next mainline game.
Lara’s look in World of Tanks reflects this unification. Her style in the latest Tomb Raider collaboration takes most of its inspiration from the ‘Classic Lara’ look of old, with her tank top and braid taking pride of place, but she also has her jade necklace from the last three mainline games.
As well as Lara, Jonah from the Tomb Raider reboot trilogy is featured, as is – somewhat to my surprise – Amanda Evert. Amanda first cropped up in Tomb Raider Legend as a former friend turned antagonist of Lara’s. Her look in World of Tanks is perhaps most different from her original design, with the goth aesthetic toned down quite significantly. Personally, I have questions about why she is there at all, given her timeline is the Legend Timeline, which is the second game timeline in the Tomb Raider series.
But this question aside, as a fan of Tomb Raider games rather than Tomb Raider collaborations, I really do wish we were being fed more than just Lara Croft in other franchises. I understand the need to keep the character relevant, but at this rate Lara is at risk of being featured more in games that aren’t Tomb Raider than games that are. Truth be told, I am becoming increasingly frustrated by the comparative silence around the next mainline Tomb Raider game.
In 2022, Amazon said it would provide its “full support” to Crystal Dynamics, as it works on “the biggest, most expansive” series entry to date. Then, in August last year, Amazon Games boss Christoph Hartmann said development on the upcoming Tomb Raider game from Crystal Dynamics and Amazon was “going well”. Since then, however, developer Crystal Dynamics has been subject to layoffs, and nothing more has been officially said of the next Tomb Raider entry for some time.
Earlier this year, Embracer alluded to a AAA release on its docket, which the company previously expected to debut in FY 25/26 but will “likely need a few more quarters to polish”. Therefore, this particular game will likely release the following fiscal year. While Embracer did not specify which game under its umbrella it was talking about, I suspect it was Tomb Raider.
I really hope the Tomb Raider series can continue on successfully without the need to pimp Lara out to other franchises every couple of months. But right now, I am not too sure.