The video game world is abuzz over the stunning visuals that the Unreal Engine 5 showed during yesterday’s State of Unreal livestream. The software is available now for all developers to play around with on a plethora of consoles and PCs, including Mac and handheld devices. However, this wasn’t the only reveal to come out of the event, as Crystal Dynamics General Manager Dallas Dickinson took to the screen and announced that a brand new Tomb Raider was in development. This will be the 13th main entry for the franchise, and yes it will utilize the ultra-powerful Unreal Engine 5.
According to Dickinson, the new Tomb Raider “just started development” and that it will have “next-level storytelling and gameplay experiences.” Dickinson also added that Crystal Dynamics wants to continue pushing forward with innovative graphics and a high-action experience that includes excellent cinematography. Dickinson states that this is the kind of experience that “fans deserve from both Crystal Dynamics and the Tomb Raider franchise.”
Besides the initial announcement, no other information was given in regards to the new entry. However, another amazing revelation occurred when Jeff Ross revealed via Twitter that he had joined Crystal Dynamics as the game’s director. Ross was the lead developer from Bend Studio’s Days Gone, which was a major topic of discussion last year when Ross butted heads with Sony’s upper management over the sale numbers of the title and among other things.
Crystal Dynamics is of course no stranger to the Tomb Raider franchise, as they were tasked with the 2013 reboot of the same name. The game was critically acclaimed and soon followed up with a sequel, the ably named Rise of the Tomb Raider which released in 2015. A third entry was developed for 2018, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, albeit without Crystal Dynamics instead being developed by Eidos Montreal. Now that Crystal Dynamics is back in the driver seat of the series, it’ll be interesting to see how this one turns out, especially with the new engine that is the powerhouse of Unreal Engine 5.