In a twitter post responding to a fan’s question on whether Square Enix or Microsoft would be publishing Rise of the Tomb Raider, Aaron Greenberg, Xbox Head of Marketing announced that Microsoft would be the publisher. It has been known since August that the game would be an Xbox timed exclusive. What remains unclear is how long it will be an Xbox exclusive before it’s made available for other platforms.

 In a post on August 16th, 2014 Darrell Gallagher, Head of Studios at Crystal Dynamics wrote:

“As you may have seen, we’ve just announced that Rise of the Tomb Raider, coming Holiday 2015, is exclusively on Xbox. 

Tomb Raider in 2013 was a success due in large part to your continued support. Our goal has always been to deliver something truly special with Rise of the Tomb Raider. Today’s announcement with Microsoft is one step to help us put Tomb Raider on top of action adventure gaming. Our friends at Microsoft have always seen huge potential in Tomb Raider and have believed in our vision since our first unveil with them on their stage at E3 2011. We know they will get behind this game more than any support we have had from them in the past – we believe this will be a step to really forging the Tomb Raider brand as one of the biggest in gaming, with the help, belief and backing of a major partner like Microsoft.

This doesn’t mean that we’re walking away from our fans who only play on PlayStation or on PC. Those are great systems, with great partners, and amazing communities. We have Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris coming to those platforms this December, and Tomb Raider: The Definitive Edition is available on PS4.”

In response to the flood of concerned Lara Croft fans who have the wrong platform, Crystal Dynamics put out the following Q&A post. In it they note:

Q.Does the exclusive to Xbox have a duration? Is it timed? How long is the duration? Can we expect a PlayStation 4 or PC release in the future?

A. Yes, our deal with Microsoft has a duration. We aren’t discussing details of the deal, and are focused on delivering a great game on Xbox One and Xbox 360.

Q. Were the fans considered when making this decision? Are Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix aware of the franchise history with PlayStation and on PC?

A. Of course. We did not make this decision lightly. Our goal is to build the best game that we possibly can, and our relationship with Microsoft will help us realize our vision for the game.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Announcement Trailer