We don't know much about what's next for the Tomb Raider franchise, beyond the fact that there will almost certainly be another entry in the game series. However, a major change at the developer may have just set a new entry back. Today it was announced that Rhianna Pratchett, the woman responsible for writing the two current games in the rebooted series has left the developer to pursue other endeavors.
Rhianna was instrumental in helping us find Lara's voice in the 2013 origin story, and through Rise of the Tomb Raider she shaped Lara into the evolving heroine we know today. The entire team thanks Rhianna for her dedication and tireless efforts on the games. Please join us in wishing Rhianna the absolute best in her next adventure.
When Crystal Dynamics made the decision to reboot the Tomb Raider franchise in 2013 they did so with a Lara Croft who was a much more complete character than her previous iterations. Rhianna Pratchett, justifiably, received the majority of the praise for turning the Lara from eye candy into somebody much deeper.
While there had been no official announcement that a third game in the series was underway, or that Rhianna Pratchett would be the lead writer of said project, putting her charge certainly would have fallen into the "if it ain't broke" category of decision making. Now, it seems that Mz. Pratchett has things of the non-Tomb Raider variety on her mind.
The posting to Crystal Dynamics Tumblr makes it sound like the decision to leave was Pratchett's, because she has something specific she wants to go do. Rhianna's Pratchett took to Twitter make her goodbyes to fans. She had nothing but positive things to say about her time working on the Tomb Raider franchise.
There's no mention in the original announcement regarding where this leaves the Tomb Raider franchise. Whether Crystal Dynamics already has a new writer lined up, or whether they now need to go in search of one is unclear. It's unlikely the developer will have any trouble attracting a writer to the game series. It will, however, mean that going forward will be somewhat different than the character we've gotten to know over the last couple of games. Hopefully, Rhianna Pratchett's work will act as a guide to whoever ends up taking over.
Crystal Dynamics hired a new director for the Tomb Raider franchise a few months ago. That combined with the upcoming movie starring Alicia Vikander certainly shows that the developer plans to keep Lara Croft around for a long time to come.
Rhianna Pratchett certainly leaves Crystal Dynamics having accomplished quite a lot. It will be exciting to see where she takes her talents next.
