Core Design loses Lara

In a press release concerning the recent release of Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness and the fact that all but 500,000 copies of the game were shipped in Eidos' last financial year, the publisher has today announced that development of the Tomb Raider franchise is to be transferred to its Crystal Dynamics studio in the US. The next Tomb Raider game is currently scheduled for release during the financial year ending June 30, 2005, and, in light of today's announcement, Eidos has stated that it will be evaluating Core Design studio's ongoing direction and contribution as part of the group's overall development capabilities.

Today's announcement follows an eventful month for Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, which has seen the game released more than six months later than originally planned with bugs and glitches still present, the departure of Core Design cofounder and managing director Jeremy Heath-Smith, and, more recently, the game being blamed for the poor box-office performance of Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. For more information on Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, check out our full reviews of both the PS2 and PC versions of the game.