Tomb Raider on Xbox 2, PSP
Sometime between July and next June.
Eidos says the extra development time allotted to Crystal Dynamics' first stab at the Tomb Raider series will allow for additional versions to appear on PlayStation Portable and Xbox 2.
The next Tomb Raider is due out in Eidos' fiscal year 2006, which ends next June.
The news of next-generation console and handheld versions was buried in the "Outlook" section of Eidos' recent fairly bleak financial report. There Eidos said: "Management is optimistic about the prospects for the PSP market and is already looking to bring a number of our key franchises onto this new platform, including the next iteration of Lara Croft Tomb Raider." Eidos already has Core Design working on a PSP title called Smart Bomb - a puzzle game that involves defusing high tech bombs.
Slightly further on, Eidos reiterated that its next Tomb Raider would be released in fiscal 2006 (along with Hitman: Blood Money) and said: "This will enable further development work to be undertaken on these titles (including additional versions of Lara Croft Tomb Raider for the next generation PSP and Xbox 2 platforms)."
It's interesting to see confirmation of Xbox 2 support more than anything; the last Tomb Raider title, Angel of Darkness, was a Sony console exclusive with only a separate PC version appearing shortly after its release in early July 2003.
Though E3 line-ups have yet to be confirmed, Eidos would be expected to show off its next-generation Tomb Raider at the industry's premier trade show in Los Angeles in two months' time.
