What Next For Lara Croft?

We look beyond Rise Of The Tomb Raider and talk the future of Croft with Crystal Dynamics’ franchise creative director, Noah Hughes.

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On Tuesday 11 October, Rise Of The Tomb Raider finally launches on PlayStation 4. This you already know, since last issue we flew out to Crystal Dynamics for a world-exclusive hands-on with Lara’s PlayStation homecoming. One major thing we didn’t get to do during our time at the home of Tomb Raider, however, was tour the studio itself.

Why? We have our suspicions… Between external studio Nixxes helping to port Rise Of The Tomb Raider and the fact that the main game was actually finished last year ahead of its release on other platforms, it’s fair to assume Square Enix didn’t want our eyes falling on images for the next Tomb Raider game, which must surely be well into production by now. Sadly, the chance to peek at a potential sequel to Rise Of The Tomb Raider must wait for another day, but that didn’t stop us from sitting down with the man in charge of steering the studio’s vision for Tomb Raider, Noah Hughes, and asking what’s in store for the future…

OPM: Looking back at the Rise Of The Tomb Raider, how would you assess the end result? 

Noah Hughes: We tend to look backwards as a means of going forwards. I’m always very appreciative of the acclaim we get, but my hunger is for how do we do it better: how do we improve? So immediately I start hearing from fans what they like and don’t like. From my own sense, I get distance and decide what I like and don’t like. And really we just roll that into “how do we 1) take the next logical step on Lara’s journey? and 2) perfect the formula of modern tomb raiding?”