Tomb Raider: Anniversary
"Tomb Raider" is the first game in the titular franchise, and introduced the series' gameplay standards and its protagonist Lara Croft. Developed by British studio Core Design, "Tomb Raider" was a commercial and critical success, and was followed by five successive games between 1996 and 2000. Their sixth "Tomb Raider" game "" was beset by developmental problems and rushed to release, resulting in low sales and mixed critical reception. The game's failure and Core Design's fatigue with the series prompted franchise publisher Eidos Interactive to move development of "Tomb Raider" to the American studio Crystal Dynamics, who rebooted the franchise with "". "Legend" released in 2006 to critical and commercial success.
Toby Gard
Gard left Core Design in 1997. With "Tomb Raider" already an established hit, Core was no longer giving Gard the creative freedom he originally had. In the end he was given the choice of making a "Tomb Raider" port for the Nintendo 64, or working on Core's vision for "Tomb Raider II". Neither option appealed to him, so he left the company. Gard had been headhunted by other software companies including Interplay and Shiny Entertainment (which prematurely announced that it had hired Gard) but did not take up their offers of employment.