Tomb Raider (1996 video game)
The front of the Derby Studios building where Core Design worked on the game was later used as the front of Croft Manor. It is Core's contention that the company was struggling somewhat with 32-bit development at that time. The first glints of the game were seen on Sega Saturn development kits. However, Gard stated that though Core and Sega had a deal for "Tomb Raider" to be a timed exclusive for the Saturn, the game was developed simultaneously for the Sega Saturn and the Sony PlayStation. Following the release of the Saturn version, a number of bugs were discovered that affected both versions of the game; because of the timed exclusivity, the development team fixed these bugs for the PlayStation version. While the series would see four more instalments on the original PlayStation, no additional "Tomb Raider" games were released for the Saturn. Additional Sega ports were released on the Dreamcast.
Rise of the Tomb Raider
On 1 August 2013, Square Enix Europe executive Phil Rogers announced that a new "Tomb Raider" game was in development for the eighth generation of video game consoles. Microsoft announced the game during an E3 2014 press conference, with a scheduled late-2015 release. At Gamescom 2014, the company said that "Rise of the Tomb Raider" would be an exclusive for its Xbox series of video-game platforms, including Xbox 360 and Xbox One; according to Microsoft Studios executive Phil Spencer, it would be a timed exclusive similar to Microsoft's deal with Capcom and Crytek on "Dead Rising 3" and "" (in which both were released for Microsoft Windows). This sparked player outrage from players (since "Tomb Raider" had a longer history with PlayStation), who blamed franchise owner Square Enix for the decision. Microsoft's calling the game "exclusive on Xbox for holiday 2015" caused confusion among the gaming press and players. Rogers explained in 2015 that the Microsoft timed exclusivity was primarily due to the company's strong support for the 2013 reboot. Crystal Dynamics head Darrell Gallagher said that the partnership could help the team "deliver the best game that [they] can". Rogers called the arrangement a "natural" evolution and a "tough" decision.