2018 was a brilliant year for Tomb Raider fans, with the success of a number of charity projects, the release of the third Tomb Raider movie, the launch of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, numerous anniversary milestones, and so much more. As we begin to head into the new year, it feels like the perfect time to look back at twelve months of constant news, celebrations and announcements.
New Releases
This past year saw two major releases that fans have been anticipating for years.
A New Tomb Raider Movie. Released in March, Alicia Vikander burst onto cinema screens as Lara Croft in a brand new Tomb Raider movie. Directed by Roar Uthaug, the movie was a retelling of the Tomb Raider (2013) title with distinct differences to distinguish itself from the original title. While there were fantasy elements in the movie, the differences from its virtual doppelganger grounded the movie closer to reality as well as made Lara's father a more central character to the expedition. Collecting $274.7 million at box office, the movie received praise for Vikander's portrayal of the young archeologist and for the film's impressive stunts.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Following the movie's release, Square Enix kickstarted their promotional campaign for Shadow of the Tomb Raider with synchronized reveal events taking place in London, Montreal and Los Angeles. The game would conclude the trilogy established by Tomb Raider (2013) released five years prior, but would be developed by a different company, Eidos Montréal. The game showed a tougher and a more sure protagonist and was praised by long-time fans of the series for its classic feel to the adventure.
Anniversaries
2018 was a major year for milestones with four of the twelve main games celebrating anniversaries.
1998. Tomb Raider III. Following the success of the original Tomb Raider title, the developers at Core Design continued to work hard to release yearly installments of the series. For the third title they pushed even harder to create more varied locations, more vehicles, more puzzles, and provide fans with Lara's biggest adventure to date. Twenty years later, it's a title that is still loved in the community for its sense of adventure and creative gameplay. It's also a personal favourite of mine as it was the first Tomb Raider game I played as a kid, and influenced me greatly.
2003. Angel of Darkness. We also celebrated the 15th anniversary of Angel of Darkness! The game was originally launched in 2003 with a mixed reception; some praised its new darker and gritter take to the adventure and a Lara that accepted no nonsense, but it was a title pulled back by its bugs and tight development time. The adventure was the final published Tomb Raider title for Core Design in a controversial decision by parent company, Eidos, who later transferred rights over to Crystal Dynamics. The new approach by Core, as well as the passionate and raw interviews by developers working on the project, made it a beloved title by many in the community.
2008. Tomb Raider Underworld. Five years after the release of Angel of Darkness, Crystal Dynamics launched Tomb Raider Underworld, wrapping up their first trilogy of the series. The installment shared similar qualities with Core Design's final title; a bold step into a darker adventure for the series while embracing new technical improvements, but due to its tight yearly development schedule the title was also pulled back by its bugs. However it's also considered as a major staple of the series for its vision and their fresh approach.
2015. Rise of the Tomb Raider. Seven years after the launch of Tomb Raider Underworld, Crystal Dynamics launched their fifth title in the series, Rise of the Tomb Raider. Despite being released in a period of uncertainty with a controversial Microsoft timed-exclusive partnership and synchronized launch of Fallout 4, the title received generally positive reviews from the media who praised the title for its romanticism for adventure, improved graphics, and a greater embrace of tombs.
Charities
Over $50,750 was raised in the past year from official and community driven charity campaigns!
Extra Life. Team Tomb Raider Community and Crystal Dynamics was at it again with another Extra Life marathon in 2018. A week after the event, both team together had raised a staggering $27,857.61 through their broadcasts but continued to collect donations throughout the rest of the year for The Children's Miracle Hospital Network. The organization consists of 180 hospitals which provide 32 million treatments. The money raised will go towards caring for children in hospitals across the United States and Canada, regardless of whether or not they have health insurance. The money also helps the hospitals improve their facilities and main the level of care by paying for training, research and equipment.
Movember. A group of developers at Eidos Montréal, the studio behind the Shadow of the Tomb Raider, took on the Movember challenge in 2018. The team consisted of Simon Habib (Senior Technical Animator), Daniel Richer (Junior Sound Designer), Emmanuel Daneau (Junior Sound Designer), and Jean-Philippe Parent (Junior Gameplay/AI Programmer) and together they raised $1,145 for Movember Foundation Canada. The campaign saves men’s lives through projects focused on prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention.
Best Friends. Just before the launch of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Square Enix and XBOX collaborated on another charity campaign, raising money for Best Friends Animal Society; America's leading animal welfare organization. For the campaign, Square Enix released a special video retelling SOTTR's End of the Beginning trailer with animals and donated a custom XBOX One X 1TB console to raise funds for the organisation. The bidding reached a staggering $8,300 for the charity in which 100% went to caring for animals.
Tomb Raider Marathon. The team behind Tomb Raider Marathon continued their success into 2018 with another $3,164.99 raised for charity. Last year they selected Help Hope Live as the program, an US-based organization which helps people to pay a wide range of medical expenses including medication, medical equipment, home health care, wheelchair-accessibility modifications, physical therapy, medical travel and temporary relocation, and emergency living assistance. The team has announced that they will continue their fundraising efforts into 2019!
Projects
Backwards Compatibility. Back in August, XBOX announced that Tomb Raider Legend and Tomb Raider Anniversary are now available to play on XBOX One via their Backwards Compatibility program. The games can be bought digitally or as a physical disc, allowing gamers who already own the titles to replay it on modern consoles and for newer fans to purchase the games at a reduced price. The addition of the two games means that all Tomb Raider titles released for the XBOX console throughout its history are now available to play on any version of the XBOX One.
100 Professionals of Play. In late 2018, Meagan Marie (Senior Community Manager at Crystal Dynamics) launched her third book in collaboration with Prima Games entitled "Women in Games: 100 Professionals of Play" which celebrated women in the games industry, their achievements, and the paths they have taken.
Larazade. Tomb Raider's partnership with UK company, Lucozade, continued in 2018 with the brand readopting the name Larazade for a limited run to cross-promote Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
Kickstarter. Last year we got further news on two Kickstarter projects created by former Core Design's composers. Supporters for Nathan McCree's 2016's Tomb Raider Suite campaign saw the release of the digital soundtrack and the first round of physical perks land of doormats with t-shirts, signed posters and music sheets heading out to fans. The Kickstarter for Peter Connelly's Dark Angel Symphony also launched earlier in the year, after a rocky initial campaign, the team regroup and lowered expenses of the project to £60,000 which was reached in advance of the second campaign's deadline.
Her Universe's Tomb Raider Fashion Line by Hannah Kent. In the lead up to Shadow of the Tomb Raider's launch, cosplayer Hannah Kent, created five outfits for a new Tomb Raider fashion line, sold by Her Universe.
Crystal Northwest. In August, Crystal Dynamics opened up a second studio, Crystal Northwest, in Washington!
New Releases
This past year saw two major releases that fans have been anticipating for years.
A New Tomb Raider Movie. Released in March, Alicia Vikander burst onto cinema screens as Lara Croft in a brand new Tomb Raider movie. Directed by Roar Uthaug, the movie was a retelling of the Tomb Raider (2013) title with distinct differences to distinguish itself from the original title. While there were fantasy elements in the movie, the differences from its virtual doppelganger grounded the movie closer to reality as well as made Lara's father a more central character to the expedition. Collecting $274.7 million at box office, the movie received praise for Vikander's portrayal of the young archeologist and for the film's impressive stunts.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Following the movie's release, Square Enix kickstarted their promotional campaign for Shadow of the Tomb Raider with synchronized reveal events taking place in London, Montreal and Los Angeles. The game would conclude the trilogy established by Tomb Raider (2013) released five years prior, but would be developed by a different company, Eidos Montréal. The game showed a tougher and a more sure protagonist and was praised by long-time fans of the series for its classic feel to the adventure.
 |
| Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft in the third Tomb Raider movie. |
Anniversaries
2018 was a major year for milestones with four of the twelve main games celebrating anniversaries.
1998. Tomb Raider III. Following the success of the original Tomb Raider title, the developers at Core Design continued to work hard to release yearly installments of the series. For the third title they pushed even harder to create more varied locations, more vehicles, more puzzles, and provide fans with Lara's biggest adventure to date. Twenty years later, it's a title that is still loved in the community for its sense of adventure and creative gameplay. It's also a personal favourite of mine as it was the first Tomb Raider game I played as a kid, and influenced me greatly.
2003. Angel of Darkness. We also celebrated the 15th anniversary of Angel of Darkness! The game was originally launched in 2003 with a mixed reception; some praised its new darker and gritter take to the adventure and a Lara that accepted no nonsense, but it was a title pulled back by its bugs and tight development time. The adventure was the final published Tomb Raider title for Core Design in a controversial decision by parent company, Eidos, who later transferred rights over to Crystal Dynamics. The new approach by Core, as well as the passionate and raw interviews by developers working on the project, made it a beloved title by many in the community.
2008. Tomb Raider Underworld. Five years after the release of Angel of Darkness, Crystal Dynamics launched Tomb Raider Underworld, wrapping up their first trilogy of the series. The installment shared similar qualities with Core Design's final title; a bold step into a darker adventure for the series while embracing new technical improvements, but due to its tight yearly development schedule the title was also pulled back by its bugs. However it's also considered as a major staple of the series for its vision and their fresh approach.
2015. Rise of the Tomb Raider. Seven years after the launch of Tomb Raider Underworld, Crystal Dynamics launched their fifth title in the series, Rise of the Tomb Raider. Despite being released in a period of uncertainty with a controversial Microsoft timed-exclusive partnership and synchronized launch of Fallout 4, the title received generally positive reviews from the media who praised the title for its romanticism for adventure, improved graphics, and a greater embrace of tombs.
 |
| Tomb Raider III, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Angel of Darkness all celebrated anniversary milestones in 2018. |
Charities
Over $50,750 was raised in the past year from official and community driven charity campaigns!
Extra Life. Team Tomb Raider Community and Crystal Dynamics was at it again with another Extra Life marathon in 2018. A week after the event, both team together had raised a staggering $27,857.61 through their broadcasts but continued to collect donations throughout the rest of the year for The Children's Miracle Hospital Network. The organization consists of 180 hospitals which provide 32 million treatments. The money raised will go towards caring for children in hospitals across the United States and Canada, regardless of whether or not they have health insurance. The money also helps the hospitals improve their facilities and main the level of care by paying for training, research and equipment.
- An additional $10,283.61 was raised across twelve auction items for Extra Life by the studio in the lead up to the big day.
- Stella has already announced that Team Tomb Raider Community will continue to live-stream into 2019 with the group page already collecting donations!
Movember. A group of developers at Eidos Montréal, the studio behind the Shadow of the Tomb Raider, took on the Movember challenge in 2018. The team consisted of Simon Habib (Senior Technical Animator), Daniel Richer (Junior Sound Designer), Emmanuel Daneau (Junior Sound Designer), and Jean-Philippe Parent (Junior Gameplay/AI Programmer) and together they raised $1,145 for Movember Foundation Canada. The campaign saves men’s lives through projects focused on prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention.
Best Friends. Just before the launch of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Square Enix and XBOX collaborated on another charity campaign, raising money for Best Friends Animal Society; America's leading animal welfare organization. For the campaign, Square Enix released a special video retelling SOTTR's End of the Beginning trailer with animals and donated a custom XBOX One X 1TB console to raise funds for the organisation. The bidding reached a staggering $8,300 for the charity in which 100% went to caring for animals.
Tomb Raider Marathon. The team behind Tomb Raider Marathon continued their success into 2018 with another $3,164.99 raised for charity. Last year they selected Help Hope Live as the program, an US-based organization which helps people to pay a wide range of medical expenses including medication, medical equipment, home health care, wheelchair-accessibility modifications, physical therapy, medical travel and temporary relocation, and emergency living assistance. The team has announced that they will continue their fundraising efforts into 2019!
 |
| A number of charities focused through charity campaigns last year. |
Projects
Backwards Compatibility. Back in August, XBOX announced that Tomb Raider Legend and Tomb Raider Anniversary are now available to play on XBOX One via their Backwards Compatibility program. The games can be bought digitally or as a physical disc, allowing gamers who already own the titles to replay it on modern consoles and for newer fans to purchase the games at a reduced price. The addition of the two games means that all Tomb Raider titles released for the XBOX console throughout its history are now available to play on any version of the XBOX One.
100 Professionals of Play. In late 2018, Meagan Marie (Senior Community Manager at Crystal Dynamics) launched her third book in collaboration with Prima Games entitled "Women in Games: 100 Professionals of Play" which celebrated women in the games industry, their achievements, and the paths they have taken.
Larazade. Tomb Raider's partnership with UK company, Lucozade, continued in 2018 with the brand readopting the name Larazade for a limited run to cross-promote Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
Kickstarter. Last year we got further news on two Kickstarter projects created by former Core Design's composers. Supporters for Nathan McCree's 2016's Tomb Raider Suite campaign saw the release of the digital soundtrack and the first round of physical perks land of doormats with t-shirts, signed posters and music sheets heading out to fans. The Kickstarter for Peter Connelly's Dark Angel Symphony also launched earlier in the year, after a rocky initial campaign, the team regroup and lowered expenses of the project to £60,000 which was reached in advance of the second campaign's deadline.
Her Universe's Tomb Raider Fashion Line by Hannah Kent. In the lead up to Shadow of the Tomb Raider's launch, cosplayer Hannah Kent, created five outfits for a new Tomb Raider fashion line, sold by Her Universe.
Crystal Northwest. In August, Crystal Dynamics opened up a second studio, Crystal Northwest, in Washington!
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| "Women in Gaming", Tomb Raider Legend, and Hannah Kent's Tomb Raider Fashion Line. |
What a year it was. Thanks for reminding us all about these milestones, and congrats to everyone who helped make these great things happen!
ReplyDeleteWith no major official TR release on the horizon, at least we have some Shadow DLC and a board game to look forward to this year. I keep hoping against hope there'll be news about a Lara Croft game in the works, but I guess we'll see. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for more TR in 2019! 🤞