It seems that Rise of the Tomb Raider will launch on the PC in January, perhaps saving the game's sales blushes after a disastrous Xbox exclusive release. This is consistent with Square Enix's comments that the PC edition would deploy in "early 2016" – but it seems sooner than even we anticipated. Could the company's contract with Microsoft have changed?
Well, it's unlikely, but it's perhaps feasible that the firm may have a get-out clause if sales don't meet expectations. Previously, the publisher said that the PlayStation 4 edition will arrive a year after the Xbox One and Xbox 360, meaning that it will be forced to compete against juggernauts such as the next Call of Duty and potentially Mass Effect: Andromeda in 2016. Putting it out in the summer would help its cause, for sure.
We doubt that Square Enix will have much to say on the matter just yet, but for the good of the game, we do hope that the Sony SKU hits store shelves before the holiday rush. The saddest thing about all of this is that the game's top notch – it's just a shame that poor business decisions have prevented it from fulfilling its full potential.
[source store.steampowered.com]
Comments 56
You never know, as you say maybe there was an option to release sooner if it didn't sell a certain number? Would be nice!
@kyleforrester87 why they expected it to sell well on the worst selling of the systems to begin with is beyond me
@FullbringIchigo There's a Wii U version?
Selling it on the same day as fallout 4 wouldn't of helped either
@Ichiban no the worst selling system (at the time) was the xb1 so why Square thought releasing it as an exclusive on that system is beyond me
(yes i know that now the XB1 has outsold the Wii U but when this deal was made it was in 3rd place)
Poor business decisions isn't the only thing that happened to TR. Releasing the game on a console that is known for multiplayer/co-op experiences was also a major issue. Not to blame Xbox One owners. But it's been obvious that single player games hardly do well anymore, especially on Xbox. There is more variety on PlayStation, and I'm sure TR will be well received on PS4 (as far as consoles are concerned).
I couldn't care less, I'm done with the series because of this move. Sure some may say I'm over-reacting but I've never felt to betrayed by a company and like they essentially spat in my face and told me to go wait in a ditch until they can be bothered confirming that I'll get it on the systems I prefer.
The fact the PC is also considered under Microsoft to a degree with its Windows 10 OS as well as the PC is not seen as 'competition' to consoles, I guess there is more chance of this changing its date. Unless there is some 'clause' in the contract between MS and Square Enix/Crystal Dynamix, I doubt very much that Sony console(s) will get their hands on this game until that year is up.
As I have said many times before, I do not agree with ANY 3rd party deals (inc DLC, additional content etc) and particularly not those involving existing franchises, I therefore whole heartedly disagree with the decision to make this a console exclusive even if it is only timed.
That being said, it was never going to overshadow or influence my decision to play this game. For me it was my 2nd favourite game of the year (behind the Witcher 3) and would highly recommend it.
@BAMozzy Played it for 5 hours on my Xbox One, I despise new Lara and sorry but the betrayal was too great for me to continue
Plus it was just boring
@FullbringIchigo from what I understand the original PS3 release did poorly and it wasn't until the release of the DE that it turned a profit for them. So in those uncertain times I suppose having MS's guaranteed financial clout on board made sense for them to go ahead with the exclusivity deal to get the sequel made. Obviously from MS's side they wanted something that they hoped would compete with Uncharted. Lots of stars were aligned it would seem. Of course, some people take it personally lol
I was going to get it for xbox one as its so cheap but I'd rather grab it on ps4 for trophies plus prefer the controller... So good news if it does come out sooner rather than later.
This kinda blew up in Microsoft's face a little, wonder how much they paid for it. If it wouldn't have happened without Microsofts money then I'm glad it happened, but I find it all very strange since DE did so well.
@BAMozzy Concur
The subtitle - "PC launch due in January" - would perhaps be more accurate if it read "Microsoft Windows launch due in January" - unless it's going to be playable on Apple, Linux and Chrome in January as well?
Microsoft signed the contract, MS owns Windows, Windows getting this has very little to do with Sony getting this.
@kyleforrester87 that makes sense although if they was afraid of low sales then you would think they would approached Sony because even though the PS3 release did poorly it still outsold the 360 version
unless they did approach Sony but Sony turned them down?
i don't take it personally after all i know i will still be able to get it sooner or later, i'm just trying to figure out WHY it was done, i'm just that kind of person i like to know the details as it gives me a better understanding
I agree with what you've said in the article. Releasing in a year's time will just create the same problems. Rise of the Tomb Raider thought it would do well against Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Fallout 4 and Star Wars Battlefront. It didn't, so there's no way it's going to do well against the likes of the next Call of Duty, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Horizon: Zero Dawn, The Last Guardian and maybe Battlefield 5 next holiday season. They need to find a dry spell, perhaps summer, and stick it in there.
Quite often with these business deals there is a clause that states that they can back out if X amount of copies aren't sold within a certain time frame.
Something I've found funny is that Square Enix and Microsoft are both saying they're happy with Rise of the Tomb Raider's sales. This an obvious lie. Remember how Square said that they were disappointed with the reboot's sales, when they were at like 3 million? Rise of the Tomb Raider has sold, what, 600K?
Rise of the Tomb Raider has been a commercial failure due to the deal with Microsoft. It's a shame, because, as you've said, the game is solid.
@FullbringIchigo It was only worse because the WiiU had been out longer. Ever since the XB1 was released, its consistently sold well and outsold the previous generation consoles at the same time point. If we ignored the PS4's sales, the XB1 would be considered hugely successful in terms of sales, however because the PS4 has been even more successful, it doesn't mean the XB1 is a 'flop'. Its sold more than the 360 and PS3 did in their first 2 years.
For Square Enix, its not just the XB1 but also the XB360 as this game released on both!
EDIT: Sales per console are misleading. They only take into account the 'physical' sales and not the digital sales. This sold well digitally on XB360.
Considering Sony expected Uncharted 4 to release during the same Quarter that this was releasing may have put Sony off from investing opening the door for MS to step in. Obviously the delay to Uncharted has changed the landscape a bit but it could have impacted on this decision.
@FullbringIchigo Who knows. But I think it's safe to assume if MS want something they can likely afford to get it, where as Sony perhaps can't. So what makes sense to one, may not to the other.
@kyleforrester87 It still sold better then ons the Xbox I think so it is still a stupid idea. But I hope the game comes to PS4 and sells well. What made it personalisatie for me that they said but you have the crappy PSN game be happy with that.....
@Flaming_Kaiser lol, I think they were just trying to shine a light on a positive. Temple of Osiris is a decent game. Don't take it personally. Fact is it might not have even been made without backing from MS, or at least it might not have been the great game I hear it is, so it'll be worth the wait on PS4.
2016 is a very full year. No matter where in the year they release, they'll be competing with something and be 'old news' to a degree. I mean, they wouldn't want to compete with horizon zero dawn (in theory 2016). They may not want to compete with Dark Souls 3. Nor No Man's Sky. Nor Ratchet and Clank. Nor FFVII (theory). Nor FFXV (lol). Nor the annual releases of things like AC and COD.
Wouldn't be surprised if it did. Hopefully it'll fail just as hard on other platforms. Bloody minded, yes, but still well deserved.
I beat the first one on PS4 this weekend so I will get this one whenever it hits. Hopefully Uncharted 4 hits first.
@Spirit_Psalm91 single player games hardly do well anymore? I'd disagree.
Fallout 4.
Batman: Arkham Knight
Wolfenstein; the new order
Bloodborne (yes I know it has multiplayer, but it's not very user friendly)
The Witcher 3
Shovel Knight
MGS V (mp didn't launch til a month later, sold bucketloads)
Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Uncharted: Nathan Drake Collection.
That's just off the top of my head, and it may be a different story on xbox, but Single Player focused games are doing well from what I've seen.
I plan on getting it but I'm in no rush. It would have been a day one buy had it been on PS4 from the start.
When I first heard PS4 had to wait a year for the game I was annoyed as I like the franchise and was suprised as PS has always well supported TR. They must have got a boat load of money to put it on Xbox first but as the article says it backfired. On Twitch is so far down the list of games people broadcast. Getting released a year on and competeting with other big games will hurt it again next year. Will I buy it yes, will I rush to buy it no. they keep us waiting an extra year so why should I buy it day one. Timed exclusives on both formats are annoying for the consumers.If both companies just agreed not to do it they would both save a load of money.
I do not know if it being released at the same time as Fallout 4 had any impact on sales as they are totally different games.
@BAMozzy i never said it was a flop i said at the time the Wii U was outselling it and it was outselling it AT THAT POINT
Possible the contract was based on sales numbers, similar to a free agent signing 'reach these numbers' and incentives or maybe an extension kick in, don't reach the numbers and the team has a get out clause. Either way a deal that never should've been made, and that's not being a fanboy of anything other than Tomb Raider. This hurt the franchise period, though I'm sure the PlayStation haters, which there are way too many who migrate over here from Nintendo Life, will tell me why I'm wrong.
@FullbringIchigo
I'm pretty sure the deal was made because SquareEnix was unhappy the 2013 reboot, which received no advertising whatsoever I might add, didn't sell like Grand Theft Auto or Call of Duty. Doing this deal with MS clearly takes some of the risk away so from a business perspective, I understand it and I definitely don't blame MS for taking advantage of its $$$ if SE and Crystal Dynamics were shopping. I do despise SE for even doing this though. Not a company that is hurting for money so if you really want to grow the franchise, grow it or shut the f**k up. The fact is Crystal Dynamics has pushed this series as an Xbox exclusive since the start of last-gen with Tomb Raider Legend. And yet it's consistently sold better on PlayStation, that is a fact and again, I'm sure the haters will argue but you don't 'grow a franchise,' exact words used by the dipsh*ts at SE and CD by taking a franchise from the two platforms where it sells best and putting it on the one where it sells the worst! The franchise, imo, is now more in jeopardy than it's ever been, which is a shame because this game is great. Unfortunately extremely dumb decision making has overshadowed it, as we're still talking about exclusivity. Sometimes there's moves that make sense (Dead Rising 3 to Xbox One for example, Xbox is where the franchise was born), others, like this don't. And before any crying moron starts, I'm not calling MS evil nor do I have a problem with the deal because MS made. Get over your pathetic jealousy of PlayStation and look at the facts. As a Tomb Raider fan who just wants more games in the series, I hate SE more than I can put into words for putting its future in serious doubt. Please sell it and Crystal Dynamics to a publisher with an ounce of a clue.
@rjejr Except Microsoft doesn't own Steam and doesn't get money from Steam, fail point is fail.
Could be something like how Rayman Legends was suppose to be a Wii U exclusive, but because of the poor sales of Zombi U Ubisoft then ported it to other systems.
Rise probably didn't make the sales on the Xbox One like they were hoping for. Sadly I can't help to think it serves them right.
@DaveIsAnAceGamer What percentage of Steam are on Windows PC? How much money did MS make selling those copies of Windows?
fail reply is fail
@rjejr What an entirely irrelevant point, that's like stating if Sony puts a game on Steam then MS will get money but guess what they won't.
MS made it exclusive to their console because they can't make their own clone, the only reason PC gets it sooner is because PC isn't deemed a rival in the console market, PS4 is.
Steam brings in NO revenue for MS whatsoever, hense their little Windows 10/Xbox store garbage
I believe the Windows 10 version will launch before the Steam version will.
Wonder if we can get a confirmed release date for the PS4 edition...
@FullbringIchigo They assumed xbone would sell more than 17 consoles. at this point, the writing is on the wall.
@Gamer83 Mate stop acting like your any better for me jou are a Xbox fanboy with a set of consoles stop trying......
@Kidfried Ja die klote autocorrect.
I sure hope so. It's my personal game of the year and everyone deserves to play it.
Doesn't matter. They lost mine, and others I know money because of the decision. Of the reboot had been exclusive I would have had no issues, but taking a sequel to an ongoing franchise, and making it exclusive is a dirty tactic. If this had been a success I just think of what's next. A company could feasibly just dump money to eliminate a competitor and secure exclusive time periods on big releases. I love tomb raider, I thought the reboot was brilliant, but square isn't seeing a dime of my money for quite some time.
Come on all, that's a bit of a stretch, isn't it? They said Q1 PC, it's releasing Q1. Absolutely nothing got moved earlier, whoever just assumed Q1 only means March, is just wrong.
I think its best if SQ move the release date for the PS4 earlier (JAN-FEB?). I mean 2016 is a new year which means new games and also new news so TR wont stand a chance if it releases mid-year.
As for me, sure, Im still geting TR when it comes out but Im against SQ`s choice of timed exclusivity (wont have a problem with it if its only a month worth of waiting) so Im getting it used.
No matter when they release it I'm sure it'll sell better on PS4 than Xbox One or PC
I am so crazy about this game... Agrh, can't wait.
@Spirit_Psalm91 "But it's been obvious that single player games hardly do well anymore, especially on Xbox"... yeah Fallout 4 and Witcher III did small numbers I'm sure. What a load of rubbish, single player games are as popular as ever.
Please tell me you were being sarcastic and you don't actually believe what you wrote there!??!?!?
What if they release it in March or April to go against Uncharted 4? That would be sure interesting to see.
@BAMozzy Good point. PS4 has been a hit since the beginning, but Xbox One is selling well. Since Kinect is out of the bundles and Microsoft started including games in them, 1TB hard disc drives and even elite controllers, Xbox One started being quite successful.
Even for a die-hard Sony fan, it's not good that Xbox One fails, I think last generation was great for all gamers because PS3 and Xbox 360 sold almost the same units. I would love to see the same situation this generation. Both Sony and Microsoft would be cruel if they were alone.
@JoeBlogs true if they got a BIG franchise then it would have made sense but Tomb Raider isn't as big as it used to be
i read somewhere they did it so they would have something to go up against Uncharted 4 in the holiday season which i understand but then U4 was delayed and it blew back in their face
i also see some people are saying that the game wouldn't have been made without MS backing it but Square have already denied this, they said they were always going to do at least 3 games in the series, this isn't the same situation as Street Fighter V where capcom were unwilling to fund the project so Sony stepped in to fund production, MS literally paid for a timed exclusive rights because it's they type of game they want but they are unwilling to take the risk and make themselves
I read an article that said they were originally planning on releasing TR was March but they did not want to compete with Uncharted 4 so put it back and would provide a big marketing campaign for later in the year
@DaveIsAnAceGamer
Yeah there is a lot of people that feel that way about it. I understand. But I may still buy the game on PS4 just because I like single player adventure games. I own an Xbox also, and could just buy it right now. But there may be some sort of special edition for PS4. So I'll wait and see what's what...
Square Enix should have known better though, for real... It's their money they lost.
@Cron_13 lol...... (the nerve of people who thrive on trying to argue with anyone that may have overlooked some things).... Instead of firing back, I'll just remain humble in "my opinion". And whatever needs moded based on abrupt behavior I'm sure pushsquare.com will surely get to it...
Meanwhile, have a blessed day!
@Spirit_Psalm91 too much irony... Oh dear.
If you were serious in your opinion then fair enough.
@Johnnycide
Cool..
I agree with the games you mentioned and yes they do well. At least your response was positive.
Respect
@Cron_13
No need to prove to you or even be proven by you. So feel free to have the last word...
Blessings
@Spirit_Psalm91 aside from your rather pathetic snide comebacks, you do pose an interesting question about single player vs multiplayer games - and genuinely i did think you were being sarcastic.
Be interesting to see what actual sales figures when comparing the two, though some stuff like say Black Ops 3, is both so that'd be an issue. Still instead of actually bothering to add to the debate and your unfounded theories (i have one about you, but its only founded on these short posts), carry on sweetie x
@Cron_13
Look I'm going to tell you like this, "I Don't Care..." There is absolutely nothing you can do to stop me from expressing my opinion regardless of how subtle you try to come back arguing with someone you don't even know. I don't care if you don't believe me, I would be silly to even try convincing you or anyone to believe me. I know myself better than you can even guess my personality. There are far too many people with your combative attitude towards anyone who might have an opinion different from yours.
I'm not the one to come at anyone's neck about anything that is different from what I say or comment on. If you don't agree with someone then just simply keep it moving. You're definitely not going to bully me off from pushsquare, so you might as well get that out of your head.
Blessings
@slampog
Honestly March or April wouldn't be bad, it's just a matter especially since another Uncharted 4 delay is inevitable.
I just get amusement from the TV ad for the game, stating "play the best games line-up in Xbox history", and thinking to myself, "well, if this is one of the best and it didn't make the top 10..."
I think it was a poor release window anyway - it came up against some really big guns that were multi-platform and as much as I liked the first game, I don't think it had the clout to swing people over to XB1 in the way a real exclusive would.
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