Rise of the Tomb Raider Xbox Exclusivity Is Limited

Yesterday, during their Gamescom 2014 appearance, Microsoft announced that Rise of the Tomb Raider would be exclusive to Xbox One for holiday 2015 release. Due to the vague wording of the announcement and the popularity of the Tomb Raider franchise across multiple platforms, many fans questioned whether this exclusivity would be permanent.

Today, in an interview with Eurogamer, Microsoft Head of Xbox Division Phil Spencer confirmed that their exclusivity deal with Rise of the Tomb Raider is time limited, and Square Enix is free to sell the game to other platforms when their agreement with Microsoft is complete.

…their exclusivity deal with Rise of the Tomb Raider is time limited, and Square Enix is free to sell the game to other platforms when their agreement with Microsoft is complete.

Spencer refused to give any further information, stating that he would not comment on a franchise he did not own, and would not confirm where the game would go when the deal was up or how long the deal would last. He compared Rise of the Tomb Raider to Dead Rising 3 and Ryse, both of which have an initial exclusive release on the Xbox One, but will come to PC at a later date.

Given the outcry from Playstation and PC gamers over the exclusivity deal’s announcement, we can only hope that further information will be available soon.

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