Lara Croft yanked from Core's clutches

By Tom Bramwell Published 30 July, 2003

Even Eidos thinks Angel of Darkness was a farce.

Trading statements are usually pretty dull from our perspective. There are a few numbers to digest, shareholdings to discuss and directors to promote, but Eidos seems determined to put some fun back into those wire announcements of late. Take this morning's trading update, for example.

Nestled beneath news that all but 500,000 copies of Tomb Raider shipped within Eidos' last financial year is the staggering announcement that "the Board has concluded that it will transfer development of the [Tomb Raider] franchise to its Crystal Dynamics studio in the US." Lara Croft has been expatriated, folks.

It seems that since Jeremy "10/10 for Angel of Darkness" Heath-Smith stepped down from the boards of Core and Eidos, the publisher's directors have been considering the Tomb Raider franchise and Core Design itself very carefully. Indeed, "the company will now be evaluating the Core Design studio's on-going direction and contribution as part of the group's overall development capabilities." Is this the kiss of death for the once-proud studio that revolutionised action-adventures?

It seems like a harsh way to go out, certainly. Way back in the mists of time, a certain Toby Gard led Core Design into development stardom with a little third person adventurer starring a buxom heroine named Lara Croft. She didn't say much, and she didn't seem to have much to talk about - she just pranced and danced around various grisly locations from the top to the bottom of the earth, dispatching bears, wolves and even dinosaurs with her trademark twin pistols, and puzzling her way through ingeniously concocted platform levels.

Even this writer, long since a Tomb Raider refugee, fondly recalls the square room with a pool at the bottom from the demo, and struggling up platforms suspended around the room whilst occasionally tumbling into the glossy waters below.

But these days Lara Croft means something else entirely. Back then was a simpler, more innocent time, when the idea of a gaming heroine was almost unheard of. Since then Lara has multiplied and intensified, and has long since lost sight of where she came from. Subsequent games have focused more on what's inside her bra than what's inside the gamer's head, Toby Gard was dispatched from Core and has been busy with the still unreleased Galleon ever since, and Tomb Raider has grown into a mere marketing tool, rather than the epitome of subtle and self-effacing brilliance from whence it came.

And now it seems that Core Design is set to bite the bullet for a long line of marketing men and focus groups, which have gradually whittled away whatever good was left in the Tomb Raider franchise. The next instalment, developed by Crystal Dynamics, is due out in the financial year ending 30th June 2005. But with an awful game just out the door and an awful film on our doorsteps, surely nobody has time anymore for a geriatric marketing tool, and you can bet that the next instalment won't be taking up residence at the peak of the All Formats Top 40.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (40) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • ssuellid #1 9 years ago

    Taking bets now that the next game sequel tops the charts. Too many muppets out there that will pick it up purely because it has Lara Croft on the box.

  • Tiger_Walts #2 9 years ago

    I wonder what direction the franchise will take:

    Tomb Raider Racing?
    Tomb Raider Pinball? (The less said about bouncing orbs the better methinks)
    Time Raider: Tomb Crisis?
    Final Farcity?

  • Sko #3 9 years ago

    This along with the back-to-it's-roots press release a couple of weeks back - boy, the "no, really, the next one _will_ be good, honest" hype is starting early.

    That blame shifting backstab from the movie makers probably didn't help though :)
    Edited by 1 at 30/07/03 @ 10:15

  • Monkey #4 9 years ago

    Am I the only person never to have played any of the games?
    :)

  • kingmob #5 9 years ago

    Why not just sack the whole thing off altogether? Tomb Raider has been getting steadily worse throughout all it's incarnations. Gaming has evolved a fair bit but Tomb Raider hasn't (no, the "kerrazzee" new moves like... umm... crawling do not indicate evolution - neither does a more realistic moving ponytail).

    Flogging a dead horse

  • Blerk #6 9 years ago

    Hmm... Crystal Dynamics has some good 3rd person action/adventure games under its belt in the Legacy of Kain series - they were certainly better than the last five Laras. So it might make sense to give someone else a go at improving what has become a very stale game series. But it's a shame to see Core getting a kick in the teeth for what was basically a set of poor management/marketing decisions and rushed deadlines.

  • Nemesis #7 9 years ago

    The whole franchise needs a good solid kick up the arse. The first one was sublime and I spent ages just messing about on the demo.

    Lets see if CD can make something of the mess that is TR.

  • Sko #8 9 years ago

    ...a set of poor management/marketing decisions and rushed deadlines.

    Read as - shit games. I know what you're saying but there's only so many times they can do that before someone notices. If they keep getting away with it, it'd never change.

  • pjmaybe #9 9 years ago

    Mistakes they made :

    1) That whole "Let's nick bits from Metal Gear Solid" thing - Boring

    2) Trying to change the whole game dynamic. Sure, the old one had been done to death but let's be honest, if they'd just updated the first one with the graphics of Angel of Darkness it'd probably have been a much better game

    3) Alienated the female gamers who'd consumed Tomb Raiders 1-4 in their millions by constantly harping on about Lara's "fabulously modelled assets"

    4) Done away with the grisly murder of all sorts of wildlife.

    Oh and while we're on about Toby Gard, where the fucking hell is Galleon? Is this going to be another case of "4 years in development, thus it looks like a 4 year old game?"

    Peej

  • Angrydarren #10 9 years ago

    "...a set of poor management/marketing decisions and rushed deadlines. "

    Interesting.....I've never known a marketing team that can code as well. Please let me know exactly what part of the game engine the Eidos marketing team programmed?

    Marketing is often clueless, ill informed, over opinionated, naive, arrogant and patronising but christ, a shit game is down to the developer. Marketing may polish the turd by claiming that games are something they are not, but developers turn it out in the first place. And don't talk about deadlines! Duke Nukem and Daikatana are what you get if development is not reined in.

  • Killerbee #11 9 years ago

    Am I the only person never to have played any of the games?
    :)

    Nope - me! Well, I did try the first one for about 5 minutes (on the PC) but didn't really like it, and I've never felt the need to go back to the franchise since.

    This is sad news insofar as Lara Croft was one of British gaming's biggest success stories, and there's some national pride to be had in the history of the franchise, but I won't lose sleep over this from a modern, forward looking gamer's point of view.

    Besides, DMA Design / Rockstar North were/are the best of British games design imho

  • Blerk #12 9 years ago

    Read as - shit games. I know what you're saying but there's only so many times they can do that before someone notices.

    But you can't really blame Core for that. They made a great, great game - Tomb Raider. Then they went away and created a 'not as good' sequel. But then, management/marketing realised that it was their biggest seller and demanded a new game every Christmas. Given that 12 months is next to no time in the world of games development, the only thing they could do was to roll out what was basically a new set of levels with a few engine tweaks. Then it comes to PS2 and Angel of Darkness and everyone decides they want something new and different, which is fair enough. The trouble is, they then don't give them the time they need to do it properly - throwing out the old 'it's been delayed too long, fuck it - let's just chuck it out at the end of the financial year' chestnut.

    I still think Core have been given a bad deal where Tomb Raider is concerned. They might be better off without it in the long run.

  • ssuellid #13 9 years ago

    Nice title change.

    What are you on about fluffy? ;)
    Edited by 1 at 30/07/03 @ 10:43

  • FWB #14 9 years ago

    Am I the only person never to have played any of the games?

    I bought TR1 or 2 or 3 or 4, can't remember which one, for £10, cos I stumbled into HMV stoned out of my mind. I got as far as some leaky industrial ship, at the bottom of an ocean, but then got bored. It wasn't that bad, but Prince of Persia, Flashback and Another World were much better, and they were 2D.

  • Tiger_Walts #15 9 years ago

    Peej, from what I hear Toby Gard is still trying to secure a publication deal. When he gets that he will have the money for testing and fine tuning. So, allowing 3 months for the tweaking, that's your minimum wait.

  • Tricky #16 9 years ago

    Hmmm - well I have to admit that I've been playing AoD on the PC for the last two days... and I'm actually fairly happy with it. Initially I didn't want to touch the thing 'cos of the dire reviews it's been getting but I had to for testing purposes (my job).

    Once you get over the appallingly crap control system (which you do "learn" after a while so it's not so much of a problem) and get past that absolutely shite Parisian Ghetto bit and into the "tomb raiding" proper, it actually gets a lot better. There are parallels with the first game once you get to the Tomb Of The Ancients, with some nice vertigo-inducing drops and 4 different "elemental" sub-levels. I'm still only a small way through the game as far as I can tell but I think I might actually persevere. Of course this might have something to do with the fact that there's bog all else out at the moment that ignites any spark of interest. If KOTOR was out here in the UK already then AoD probably wouldn't get a look in but I won't start one of those bloody release date arguments again - they do get tedious.

    Score-wise, I'd actually give AoD a 6.5/10 at the moment (I'm a forgiving guy - you get used to the control system after a while, as I said).

  • skalmanxl #17 9 years ago

    Oh and while we're on about Toby Gard, where the fucking hell is Galleon? Is this going to be another case of "4 years in development, thus it looks like a 4 year old game?"

    Honestly, who cares anymore?

    CD is a pretty talented developer, no doubt, love the Soul Reaver games. But why not really kill this bitch once and for all...

  • tiddles #18 9 years ago

    Core Design may have been shafted by the schedules of the management during the TR1-5 era, but they had bloody long enough to get it right for AoD - even missing the Xmas slot last year to "do it justice"...

    The final nail in the coffin is the forthcoming Prince of Persia game - for all those who said the TR concept couldn't go any further, here's a new version of the game TR was inspired by.... It's packed to the gills with cool new ideas and gameplay, looks fantastic and the buzz is that it's going to be a Christmas hit.

    If one good thing has come out of this, it's made people realise that it doesn't always make sense to wring every last dollar out of your cash cow franchise. Hence no GTA this year, for example - after last year's Vice City update, Rockstar are wisely taking their time to avoid pissing off their fans with a cheap cash-in. Now, just imagine if GTA was published by Eidos....

  • tiddles #19 9 years ago

    oh, and fluffy, it's "puerile" ;)

    The standard of education today....

  • Blerk #20 9 years ago

    love the Soul Reaver games

    On that note.... I'm off to post something on the last Kain thread. Follow me there! :-)

  • gaztech #21 9 years ago

    Crystal Dynamics? CRYSTAL DYNAMICS?? WTF is going on there?

  • Ian #22 9 years ago

    @ FWB

    that was the second game

    The first two games were great at there time. The third chapter had become too difficult. I tried the demo and i didn't had a clue what to do. The whole franchise sunk after Toby Gard left the team i think. Perhaps Core shouldn't build their own engine but license one, like the unreal engine or the engine which "Indy and emperors tomb" uses. I enjoyr IJATET much more than all tomb raiders after the second part.
    Edited by 2 at 30/07/03 @ 11:33

  • Blerk #23 9 years ago

    so in a sense laura is american

    LARA! Lara! Lara Lara Lara Lara Lara Lara!

    Christ, you'd never believe she's the 'most well known video-game character ever'. :-)

  • tiddles #24 9 years ago

    The irony is that TR:AoD is still near the top of the charts - people are still buying it even though it's been slated in many reviews. But if Paramount and now Eidos themselves are effectively saying it's a failure, the chances are the prophecy will be self-fulfilling, and sales will suffer. If Eidos had any sense (heh), they would have stuck with the "well, the people liked it" line, the game would have continued with its Enter The Matrix-like success and development could have been quietly shifted over to Crystal Dynamics at a later date...

    Realist - I've no doubt that the majority of people at Core are hard-working and talented, and it's a real shame to see them shafted in this way. I agree that it's the execs who must take the blame, as they are ultimately responsible for whatever direction "Core" takes - it's their job to ensure that the development stays on course and takes the right direction, and here they've manifestly failed to do so. Who's actually going to take the punishment is another question, sadly...

  • Sko #25 9 years ago

    I'm not sure I believe the idea of being forced to put out shit games. It's not like the rest of the industry is living in some wonderful land of milk and honey and never-ending deadlines. That kind of schedule flexibility is rare and in most cases, other people manage to cope.

    At some point, someone in Core was thinking they can put out an excellent game is a short timescale or that it didn't matter what they did because people would buy whatever tat they churned out. Either way, they dropped the ball and CD seem to have been given it...

    Sucks to be Core but they've got no-one but themselves to blame.

  • Ian #26 9 years ago

    It would suffice if Core could manage to bring out a game that's not so frustrating anymore be it because of nerving bugs or whatever.

  • mouse Verified Graphic designer, Eurogamer Network #27 9 years ago

    Sorry mate, it's been done :)

  • Oceadge #28 9 years ago

    Are there different versions of TR:AoD specific to country? I have noticed that the PC version here in Ireland has a small Irish flag on the front cover. ..

  • Zero Beat #29 9 years ago

    Damn. There go my hopes for another Gex title.

    Ding-Dong Lara!

  • Tricky #30 9 years ago

    @ olof,

    No it's not that bad at all, once you get past the shite beginning (see my mini review further up the page) which is something I believe nearly every review I've seen has noted. It's just whether or not you can persevere to get used to the bloody controls ;-)

  • pjmaybe #31 9 years ago

    In fairness to the game, I didn't find the controls any more daunting than, say, Metal Gear Solid - it just had the feel of a game that had spent zero time being playtested, and a lot of time being hyped.

    There was nothing much wrong with the old control system though (aside from a few "Oh look she's stuck her head through the wall" camera issues) but I guess they thought they'd just jump on the stealth wagon (as I see EA have done with the new Bond game)

    Peej

  • Zee-Zed-Zipster #32 9 years ago

    It does make you wonder whether Eidos has had these plans up their sleeve for some time. i.e. Have they deliberately underfunded a struggling Core Design, and imposed difficult deadlines on a team they knew weren't up to scratch because they wanted to be free of Heath-Smith a long time ago?

  • inpHilltr8r #33 9 years ago

    Y'know, half the problems with the new control scheme could have been fixed by leaving the tank controls on the d-pad. That way you could have switched between the two as appropriate for the area.

    Although you can only polish a turd so much...

  • BLACKSHEEP #34 9 years ago

    I'd like to see her go up against Kain or the Soul Reaver. :D

  • Nikanoru #35 9 years ago

    Subsequent games have focused more on what's inside her bra than what's inside the gamer's head

    Wait...aren't those both essentially the same thing?

  • Blerk #36 9 years ago

    Why give it away to a company? Just at its peak they threw something away that is worth millions.

    Uh... Eidos didn't throw anything away. They just gave the job of developing future games to someone else. They still get to publish the games and hence rake in the cash...

  • Grom #37 9 years ago

    Alleged quote from someone inside Core:

    "The intial design for the new Tomb Raider was drawn up and it was nothing earth shattering. It centred largely around tombs and the raiding thereof, a solid plot and fmv sequences were planned.

    Technology wise it was going to build on code already in place from previous games (even though a lot of this was past its sell by date and despite programmers best efforts to point this out).

    Work began working around this initial plan when marketting discovered that tombs were out, tombs weren't cool people liked dark, urban settings... and stealth, and metal gear.

    So the tombs were removed, the management talked about Oil Rigs, eventually, largely urban environments were settled on with a darker, more gritty and therefore markettable plot.

    Unfortunately this invalidated most of the design already in place, the
    puzzles involving massive bits of architecture etc, suddenly the game was absent from the game and sooo many art resources had to be thrown away too.

    As appose to slowing down and rethinking the design from scratch, work
    actually increased to fill the gaps left by this change in direction.

    Doing daft hours and without a proper plan, production continued, dissenting voices at the new 'direction' of the game were ground down by the remarkable manner in which all their observations, comments and ideas were simply ignored.

    The game came into being by default as appose to design, stuff stayed in
    merely because the asset existed, hay sayers kept there mouths shut to save breath.

    Towards the very end of development it was noted that there was nothing
    'different' about the game, and a weird 'strength upgrading' system was
    bolted on to slightly extend playtime and add a bit of difference.

    It was late, it was rushed and by this time so much of the 'core' (ha ha) TR staff felt so alienated from the project that they felt they couldn't do
    anything to make it better.

    ------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------
    ------------------------------------------------------------ ----

    At this point in time Eidos have removed the TR licence, they have
    "postponed" our payrises and given no-one any work to do; 40+ people... with nothing to do at all and no management to be bothered by it worries me... I'm off to spruce up my CV."

  • Huxley #38 9 years ago

    A nicely pitched look at the whole Lara episode can be found HERE...
    http://www.gonegold.com/nightcall/2003/07/30.shtml#link Sorry can't be arsed to make a proper link.

    Its for about the only decently written American games site. Gone Gold.

  • Whizzo #39 7 years ago

    I find this whole thing strange, am I missing something, as this is old news.

    Look at when the story was posted.

  • tyTY #40 7 years ago

    Good, might be good.