The announcement of both Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis and Tomb Raider: Catalyst sparked speculation about a retcon among fans of the series.
During last week’s The Game Awards, the first trailer for Catalyst was immediately released unveiling Legacy of Atlantis, a “re-imagining” of the original 1996 classic. Legacy of Atlantis, built on Unreal Engine 5, will be released next year to celebrate the series’ 30th anniversary, with Catalyst expected to launch in 2027.
While some, quite naturally, suggest that starting over makes sense given the anniversary, others wonder whether the announcement of a modern game means the team will have to go back and re-examine some aspects of Lara Croft’s story to make sure everything makes sense in the character’s 30-year canon timeline.
“There are many theories as to why the TR1 redesign is happening. Some say it’s just because of the 30th anniversary, but personally I think it’s because it NEEDS to happen. We’re entering a new unified timeline where some things need rethinking and others need rethinking,” user X/Twitter suggested Merychxrry.
“This type of rethink will likely need to happen for every mainline game, but especially for the four story-heavy titles: Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, Tomb Raider: Legend, and Tomb Raider: Underworld.
“You might ask, ‘Why not TR2-3 first?’ Well, they’re not very extensive. While I would love to see them remade, first we need to unify these four story-focused games. Otherwise, it would take too long to reach them and their stories would have to be re-examined.”
Mery added that the order itself probably doesn’t matter – “it could be 4 and 6 first, then Legends and Underworld, or vice versa” – but since the assets for Legacy of Atlantis will be available first, “these games shouldn’t take too long to make.”
As game director Will Kerslake recently said GamesRadar+Catalyst fits the timeline After events from Tomb Raider: Underworld. The most recent games, known as the Survivor reboot trilogy – 2013’s Tomb Raider, 2015’s Rise of the Tomb Raider, and 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider – are still considered part of Croft’s story.
Meanwhile, there’s Amazon’s upcoming TV show to consider. Prime Video’s live-action Tomb Raider series, which will star Game of Thrones alum Sophie Turner, will “reinvent the franchise on a massive scale” and combine “live-action TV series and video games into a unified storytelling universe.”
Vikki Blake is an IGN reporter, critic, columnist and consultant with over 15 years of experience working with some of the world’s largest gaming sites and publications. She is also a Guardian, a Spartan, a Silent Hillian, a Legend, and an eternally High Chaos. Find her on Blue Sky.
