'Rise Of The Tomb Raider' Release Date In 2015: Title Will Be Xbox One Exclusive

Crystal Dynamics’ upcoming “Rise of the Tomb Raider” will only be available on the Xbox One, studio head Darrell Gallagher said during video game fair gamescom in Germany Tuesday. "Rise of the Tomb Raider" will launch sometime during the holiday season in 2015.

This announcement left many fans of the popular “Tomb Raider” franchise confused. Titles from the series have largely been available on a number of platforms, and the original “Tomb Raider” game, which hit shelves in 1996, was playable on DOS, PlayStation and Sega Saturn.

Gallagher wrote a blog post on the game’s Tumblr page, discussing his studio’s choice to make the action-adventure game an Xbox One exclusive.

Dear Tomb Raider Community,

As you may have seen, we’ve just announced that Rise of the Tomb Raider, coming Holiday 2015, is exclusively on Xbox. We consider all of you to be the lifeblood of Tomb Raider and the work we do at Crystal. I’d like to give you some insight into this decision, and why we feel this is the very best thing for the Tomb Raider sequel we’re creating at the studio.

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.

We know that there are probably many more questions and concerns. Please do send them to us, and we’ll answer to the best of our ability. Meanwhile we’re going all out to try and make something truly special -- the most ambitious Tomb Raider game ever built.

Fans openly vocalized their opinions in the comments section of the post, and many felt Microsoft offered the studio large amounts of money for exclusivity to help lagging Xbox One sales. This week, Sony announced that 10 million PlayStation 4 consoles have sold since the launch of the device last November while Microsoft Xbox One sales remain at around 5.3 million.

“Translation = MS offered us a s----ton of money,” user Leon said in response to Gallagher's announcement.

“Sorry Crystal Dynamics, I won't buy Mirco$oft console, and your game too. You don't want my money, your choice,” user Europe chimed in.

Will "Rise of the Tomb Raider" help increase Xbox One sales? We'll have to be patient and see. This year, shooter "Sunset Overdrive" will launch for the Xbox One only in October, alongside a white console.