New Tomb Raider owner is eyeing up sequels, remakes, and remasters of Lara's past adventures

Tomb Raider 2013 reboot
(Image credit: Square Enix)

Embracer Group, Lara Croft's new corporate overlord, sees "great potential" in Tomb Raider, including sequels, remakes, remasters, and even "transmedia projects."

Earlier this month, Embracer acquired Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics and all corresponding IP from Square Enix in a deal worth a massive $300 million. This week, the company published its Q4 and full year financial report, in which CEO Lars Wingefors said he sees "great potential, not only in sequels, but also in remakes, remasters, spinoffs as well as transmedia projects" for Tomb Raider.

That comment relates not only to Tomb Raider, a franchise which Embracer now owns in its entirety, but also Deus Ex, Thief, and Legacy of Kain, according to Wingefors. So while the Embracer CEO might be seeing big things ahead for the Tomb Raider series, he's also very clearly got big plans in the works for other game series that come with the acquisition of Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal, and Square Enix Montreal.

It's not unreasonable, therefore, to suggest we could be in for remakes, remasters, and sequels for Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, and even Legacy of Kain. Wingefors notes in the Q4 earnings report that the acquisition announcement received an "overwhelming and positive response," so it's likely that Embracer would seek to capitalize on the wave of good press by putting resources into the aforementioned franchises.

Right now however, there's only one new game from the four series Wingefors highlights in active development. Crystal Dynamics announced earlier this year that a brand new Tomb Raider game was in development, utilizing the Unreal Engine 5 for new-gen platforms. Aside from this new game, there's been no official word on whether we'll see any new releases from the Deus Ex, Thief, and Legacy of Kain sagas. The deal between Square Enix and Embracer explicitly included the new Tomb Raider game, so we know it's continuing life under a new parent company.

Head over to our new games 2022 guide for a full look over all the titles launching this year and beyond.

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.

Read more
Lara Croft stands in front of blue flames and a city vista in the Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness key art used on the box, cropped to fit a thumbnail
Tomb Raider 4-6 Remastered restores some cut content to hopefully make Angel of Darkness a little less hated this time around
Fortnite's Lara croft skin in front of a building
Fortnite has had Tomb Raider's Lara Croft locked away in battle pass exclusivity jail for almost 4 years, but she's reportedly getting a new skin very soon
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle artwork
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was successful enough that Disney reportedly "picked up the phone and wants more"
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered
The Soul Reaver remaster's director was hired after creating their own fan remaster for free
Jurassic Park Survival
As Jurassic Park Survival, John Carpenter's Toxic Commando, and the Star Wars KOTOR remake remain MIA, Saber CEO promises "everything that we have talked about is still in development"
Persona 5 Royal screenshot
Sega outlines plan to "strengthen" Persona, Yakuza, and Sonic studios, says "Atlus is an important studio for us to expand Japanese IPs overseas"
Latest in Action
Yasuke looking over the water to a shrine during sunset in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows has an entire island stuffed with adorable kittens you need to check out, and it's based on an actual Japanese cat paradise
Assassin's Creed Shadows review gameplay showing Yasuke overlooking the sea and lush green scenery
Assassin's Creed Shadows has already "surpassed the launches of AC Origins and Odyssey" with 2 million players and counting
God of War 3
God of War PSP's seamless loading was only possible because a Jak & Daxter game was also running in the background
MindsEye
GTA veteran's new open-world game will belong to everyone – almost like a wild mix of Roblox and Minecraft servers: "It won't just be ours"
Bill getting teary-eyed in The Last of Us
A potential The Last of Us season 1 plot hole has sparked a lot of debate among the fans
Assassin's Creed Shadows Naoe "justice must be served" or "killing them isn't justice" Yaya and Mistumune choice
Should you side with Mitsumune or Yaya in Assassin's Creed Shadows?
Latest in News
A screenshot from MindsEye showing a character leaning out of a car, shooting another car with a gun.
GTA veteran says the games industry needs to "get smarter" about what people actually want: "There are so many games, and I think we're starting to feel the effects"
Posing with a rifle in the Fallout 76 Ghoul update
Fallout 76's art director "had to fight really hard" so Bethesda would make the MMO's map bigger than Skyrim's
Minecraft movie image of Jack Black as steve
Don't expect Minecraft to go free-to-play anytime soon, as Mojang says "It doesn't really work with the way we built it"
Yasuke looking over the water to a shrine during sunset in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows has an entire island stuffed with adorable kittens you need to check out, and it's based on an actual Japanese cat paradise
phase zero key art showing zombies in a hallway
Former Witcher 3 and Dying Light devs reveal their Resident Evil homage, complete with PS1-style fixed cameras
Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis System was only created because WB Games wanted something to combat Batman Arkham Asylum's second-hand sales, exec says