Crystal Dynamics Explains How 'Rise of Tomb Raider' Benefitted From Xbox One Exclusivity Deal

The good people behind the upcoming "Rise of the Tomb Raider" game have come up with explanation for their decision to make the hotly anticipated game an Xbox One exclusive -- at least for a limited period of time. Darrell Gallagher, the boss at developer Crystal Dynamics has revealed the intricacies of the deal and the implications for the game.

During the interview Gallagher reiterated his belief that the partnership is instrumental in making the upcoming game better according to Gamespot. It helps to have direct access to the platform, with proactive assistance from Microsoft towards making the game integrate well hardware wise. The collaboration also affords the game with the funding and marketing push -- two crucial aspects underpinning the success of any AAA game these days.

"What we look at is how do we bring the best version of "Tomb Raider" to market?" said Gallagher explaining the relevance of the exclusivity deal and how it affected the game."And there's no doubt that having a first-party in Xbox, alongside, saying, 'We want to help you make this great, we want to push this and get behind it, and love it in the same way as you guys do,' there's only benefits that can come from that."

Speaking to Game Informer, Crystal Dynamics Studio Head Darrel Gallagher revealed that the deal with Microsoft wasn't an overnight development. Die-hard fans of the game will remember the game got its first dose of mainstream exclusivity deal way back in 2008 with "Tomb Raider" Underworld, as reported by Kotaku. Crystal Dynamics had signed a deal with Microsoft to release two new chapters "Beneath the Ashes" and "Lara's Shadow" as DLCs exclusive to Xbox Live Marketplace.

Apparently, the developer was testing the waters, in a manner of speaking. In that respect, Gallagher chose to cite the move from exclusive DLCs to making the entire game exclusive -- even if it's for an unspecified period of time -- as a "natural evolution on where we started." This raises a particularly difficult question. Considering that the series went from exclusive DLCs to timed exclusivity for a full release, will the next logical move be to make the franchise completely and absolutely exclusive to the Xbox platform?

Last year, fans of the long running "Tomb Raider" franchise threw a hissy fit when Microsoft announced that the second instalment "Rise of the Tomb Raider" since the reboot was going to be an Xbox One exclusive. This wasn't just a vocal minority of fanboys resisting change. The game has a legacy of nearly 20 years and has its multi-platform roots firmly settled in every gaming device there is. Therefore, the idea of such a large percentage of platform owners being left out cold by the exclusivity deal earned didn't please anyone, except Microsoft.

It was later revealed that the Xbox maker had conveniently left out an important detail -- the fact that the Microsoft had only got a timed exclusivity deal. "Rise of the Tomb Raider" after all would be releasing on other platforms after an unspecified amount of time had passed.

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Rise of the Tomb Raider: Announcement Trailer (credit: Tomb Raider YouTube channel)