She's back. Lara Croft's stepping foot in the jungle once more, with her trusty H&K USP Match sidearms holstered and ready to go. But things are different since Shadow of the Tomb Raider dropped in 2018. Crystal Dynamics' forthcoming reboot of the series leaves the previous trilogy behind, as game director Will Kerslake reveals that Tomb Raider: Catalyst is picking up Croft's story in an unexpected way.
While many of us hoped that Camilla Luddington's tenure as Lara Croft would continue, that's not the case. Her time in the role is over, passing over the mantle to Mass Effect and Assassin's Creed star Alix Wilton Regan. As Regan steps into Croft's boots, Kerslake tells GamesRadar about how Tomb Raider: Catalyst factors in the overall series. "From a timeline perspective, Tomb Raider: Catalyst is set years after the events of Tomb Raider: Underworld," he explains.
Rather than following on from Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the next two games serve as a fresh chapter, featuring a more experienced version of the character. Although a direct sequel to the reboot trilogy would have been great, it's not all bad news. Those entries are still considered canon, according to Kerslake, who expresses that those games serve "as her origin story." Gone but not completely forgotten, at least.
But with Catalyst acting as a sequel to Underworld, it means that there's some unification happening across the entire franchise. Beyond the reboot trilogy, Netflix's The Legend of Lara Croft continues her adventures, before next year's Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis retells the character's 1996 debut on current-gen platforms. Well, most of them anyway, as PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC are set for launch. Sadly, there's no word of a Nintendo Switch 2 version for either of the two new Tomb Raider games.
It's slightly surprising, especially as more developers are choosing Nintendo's handheld as a destination for some huge titles. Capcom's Pragmata and Resident Evil: Requiem are both coming to the handheld, as well as Bethesda's Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and IO Interactive's 007 First Light.
If we factor in the caliber of third-party ports already on the Switch 2, such as Cyberpunk 2077 and Elden Ring, it doesn't seem unreasonable to suggest it could perform well on the console. Hopefully, we'll have more word on this next year.
Either way, the Tomb Raider: Catalyst reveal is undoubtedly one of my highlights of The Game Awards 2025. Let me know what your favorites were over at the Pocket Tactics Discord server.