Amazon will be the publisher of the next Tomb Raider game

In its latest attempt to publish games, Amazon plans to publish the next installment of the Tomb Raider series, starring Lara Croft. To do so, the company has entered into an agreement with developer Crystal Dynamics, which promises to provide full support and publication of the game worldwide. Crystal Dynamics will be responsible for development of the game.

Crystal Dynamics Studios previously announced that it is working on a new Tomb Raider as part of a demonstration of Epic’s Unreal Engine game creation tools. There are few details about the game, but what is known is that it is described as a “single-player narrative adventure that continues the story of Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider series.” Amazon claims that the game will be multiplatform and is in “early development” on Unreal Engine 5. There is currently no word on when it will be released.

The Tomb Raider franchise was previously published by Square Enix, but in May of this year it sold a number of properties and studios, including Crystal Dynamics, which will be responsible for developing the new game in collaboration with Amazon.

Amazon’s gaming division is likely known for developing the MMO New World, which was released last year. Recently, however, the company has also been involved in publishing. In early 2022, Amazon published a Diablo-style action game, Lost Ark, developed by Korean studio Smilegate, and at this year’s Game Awards announced its partnership with Bandai Namco to publish the anime MMO Blue Protocol in 2023.

Previously published Amazon games tend to be live-action online games. Tomb Raider publishing therefore represents a new area of focus for the company. Christoph Hartmann, vice president of Amazon Games, said, “Amazon Games is committed to offering players the best games from the best developers for all platforms and genres, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with this legendary developer and franchise.”