Tomb Raider co-creator expresses desire to explore new worlds instead of focusing on remakes after Legacy of Atlantis announcement.

Tomb Raider co-creator Paul Douglas recently took to social media to express his views on the two new Tomb Raider titles unveiled at The Game Awards 2025. Initially, he felt let down that the next installment, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, would be yet another remake of the original game. However, after the reveal of a fresh entry, Tomb Raider: Catalyst, he believes fans will experience the “best of both worlds.”

The original Tomb Raider has seen a multitude of reboots, remasters, and re-releases over the years, with the latest being the Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered Collection that launched in 2024. In response to the announcement of yet another remake, Douglas shared on Bluesky, “She’s back apparently. Personally, I’d prefer exploring new lost worlds than another remake/remaster/reimagining of something we crafted under intense duress in the 90’s. Fingers crossed, eh.”

Lara Croft’s debut was created by a small team of just six people over 18 months, which included a grueling six months of crunch time where team members often slept in the office. Nathan McCree, the composer for Tomb Raider, recounted in an interview how he witnessed colleagues looking exhausted and ill from lack of sleep, with makeshift beds set up around the office. “I found somebody asleep in a cupboard once,” he noted.

Co-creators Toby Gard and Douglas reportedly had a falling out with Eidos Interactive over marketing disagreements. Programmer Gavin Rummery mentioned that Gard wanted Lara Croft to be depicted as sophisticated, aiming for her to appear “cool, collected, in control,” rather than as a mere object of desire.

For those who remember the original marketing campaign, images of Lara in a towel seductively gazing into the camera might come to mind. Rummery recalled Gard’s attempts to pitch a more refined portrayal of Lara to Eidos, only to be dismissed. Following this, Gard and Douglas chose to step away from the Tomb Raider sequel shortly after it was internally announced, with Rummery stating, “He couldn’t let that go.”

However, after the trailer for Tomb Raider: Catalyst was released, Douglas seemed to warm up to the idea of remaking the original, referring to the upcoming titles as the “best of both worlds.”

“There needs to be another 90%+ TR after all this time,” Douglas remarked in a follow-up post. “I’m quite looking forward to seeing both new games now. Visually they are stunning, something we only dreamed of 30 years ago. We will have to wait and see if the gameplay and resulting feelings of exploration and adventure are as good.”

The original Tomb Raider remains the only game in the series to achieve an aggregated review score over 90 on Metacritic, landing at 91. Subsequent titles have also garnered positive reception, particularly the direct sequel and the games in the Survivor reboot trilogy, with Rise of the Tomb Raider being the standout at a Metacritic rating of 88.

Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis is set to launch next year, while Tomb Raider: Catalyst is anticipated for release in 2027.